UNIVERSITY  FARM 


t 


ROBLEY   D.  EVANS. 

From  a  photograph  taken  on  the  bridge  of  the  battle  ship  Iowa. 


A    SAILOR'S    LOG 

Recollections  of  Forty  Yean 
of  Naval  Life 


By 

ROBLEY    D.   EVANS 

Rear-Admiral,  U.  S.  N. 


ILLUSTRATED 


OKIYEPSmr  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LIBRARY 

BRANCH  OF  THE 
COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 


New  York 

D.  Appleton  and  Company 
1901 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 
BY  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


TO 

MY    WIFE, 

WITHOUT    WHOSE    INSPIRATION    AND    ASSISTANCE 
IT    WOULD    NOT    HAVE    BEEN    WRITTEN, 

THIS     BOOK     IS     DEDICATED. 


81  08  2  2 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. — LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA  BEFORE  THE  WAR  i 

A  Southern  nurse— Going  to  market— The  days  of  slavery 
— Loyalty  of  the  slaves. 

II. — WITH  THE  INDIANS  AND  BUFFALO  10 

Boyhood  in  Washington — Adventures  of  travel — Among  the 
buffalo — Camping  on  the  plains — A  fight  with  Indians — 
"  Little  Breeches  " — Whistling  Indians. 

III.— IN  THE  MORMON  COUNTRY 25 

A  Mormon  train — A  surprising  shot — Brigham  Young — A 
prairie  storm. 

IV.— A  CADET  AT  ANNAPOLIS 35 

Hazing  at  Annapolis — A  time  of  anxiety — A  narrow  escape 
— On  the  Constitution — Loss  of  discipline. 

V. — THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  .          .          .          .46 

A  divided  family — A  middy's  experience — My  rebel  brother 
— Under  discipline. 

VI. — FIRST  ACTIVE  SERVICE 55 

Divided  authority — The  first  command — Admiral  Lardner 
— The  Flying  Squadron — Troublesome  sailors — A  fatal  ac 
cident — A  weird  experience — Homeward  bound. 

VII.— THE  FIRST  FORT  FISHER  CAMPAIGN       ...      74 

Arrival  of  troops — The  powder  boat — The  bombardment — 
Under  fire. 

VIII.— THE  ASSAULT  ON  FORT  FISHER       ....      83 

The  landing — Ready  to  attack — A  bloody  assault — A  duel 
to  the  death — Helpless  from  wounds — A  desperate  battle — 
Care  of  the  wounded — The  aftermath  of  battle. 

iii 


A  Sailor's  Log 


IX.— EXPERIENCES  OF  A  CONVALESCENT      .       .       .100 

Defying  the  doctors — Days  of  suffering — A  difficult  journey. 

X. — SEA  SERVICE  IN  THE  ORIENT        ....    107 

On  the  Piscataqua — In  Rio  Harbour — A  visit  to  Cape 
Town — A  quick  shot — Chinese  pirates — Thieving  boat 
men — A  disappointing  "  system  " — Smoking  opium. 

XI. — STORMY  DAYS  IN  JAPAN 125 

A  threatened  attack — Curios  and  coins — Japanese  honesty 
— An  execution — Indifference  to  death. 

XII.— HONG-KONG  AND  THE   PHILIPPINES        .          .          .136 
With  English  officers — Sport  in  China — Boat  racing — An 
American  victory — At  Singapore. 

XIII. — SOME  ORIENTAL  DIVERSIONS 146 

The  land  of  cobras — A  thrilling  experience — Racing  the 
Colorado — Return  to  New  York. 

Xiv.— A  NEW  VIEW  OF  ANNAPOLIS.       .       .       .       .155 

Coloured  cadets. 

XV. — ON   BOARD  THE    SHENANDOAH          .          .          .          .      I$8 
English  hospitality — English   sea  power — Old-fashioned 
torpedoes — Hunting  in  Morocco — A  heavy  storm — Navi 
gator  and  milkman — An  inefficient  fleet — Gun  and  tor 
pedo  practice. 

XVI. — A  CRUISE  TO  AFRICA 174 

Madeira  and  Santa  Cruz — Visit  to  Orotava — A  desecrated 
cemetery— The  President  of  Liberia— Capturing  a  shark 
— Coaling  under  difficulties— An  African  magnate — News 
from  home. 

XVII. — IN  THE  MEDITERRANEAN 190 

At  Marseilles — Features  of  Port  Mahon — A  storm  at  Na 
ples — At  the  gambling  tables — A  race  with  Spaniards — 
Odd  sport  at  Carthage — Overawing  a  Pasha — A  trip  on  land 
— A  lively  octopus — A  ghost  aloft — An  ineffective  fleet. 

XVIII. — THE  CENTENNIAL  AND  TRAINING-SHIP  DUTY     .    213 

Long-distance  signalling — Mental  over-training — The 
boys'  good  work — English  hospitality — A  big  gun — A 
boar  hunt — A  jackal  shot. 

iv 


Contents 

CHAPTER  PACK 

XIX.— METALLURGY  AND  LIGHTHOUSES       .       .       .    229 

Ordered  to  Baltimore — On  waiting  orders — Lighthouse 
service — New  ships— All  about  a  buoy — An  unsea- 
worthy  ship. 

XX.— THE  YORKTOWN'S  CRUISE  TO  CHILE  .       .       .243 

A  heavy  sea — A  pig  lost — At  Montevideo — A  pig  found 
— In  the  Straits — In  Smythe's  Channel — At  Valparaiso. 

XXL— CHILEAN  HOSTILITY 258 

Trouble  in  Chile — Calls  of  courtesy — Impending  revolu 
tion — Chilean  insolence — A  dilemma — A  plot  suspected, 

XXIL— STRAINED  RELATIONS 270 

A  curious  Christmas — Sensational  journalism — A  doubt 
ful  story — War  talk — A  New  Year — Chilean  justice — 
The  sacking  of  Santiago — Startling  information — Read 
ing  the  riot  act — The  power  of  the  flag — Salvo  con- 
ducto — An  embarrassment  of  refugees. 

XXIIL— A   WELCOME  DEPARTURE 29$ 

Saucy  torpedo  boats — A  trip  over  the  Andes — A  Callao 
painter — Turtles. 

XXIV.— FROM  CHILE  TO  BERING  SEA      .       .       .       .305 

An  earthquake — Too  much  "  Fighting  Bob  " — The  so 
cial  whirl — Off  for  Bering  Sea. 

XXV. — THE  NAVY  AMONG  THE  SEALERS        .       .       .315 

Seal  poachers — Arctic  scenery — At  Unalaska. 

XXVI.— STRIKING  AT  THE  SOURCE  OF  SUPPLIES    .       .    323 

Big  fishing — A  disappointment — Warning  the  sealers — 
A  volcano. 

XXVIL— THE  HOME  OF  THE  SEALS 332 

A  supply  ship  seized — Ugly  weather — Capture  of  the 
Winifred — A  nest  of  pirates. 

XXVIIL— CRUISING  IN  HIGH  LATITUDES    .       .       .       -343 

Good   shooting — Arctic   fruits — Gun  accidents — Tardy 
approval— Concealed  rocks — How  the  Russians  did  it — 
A  hurricane— Natural  history— Return  to  San  Francisco. 
V 


A  Sailors  Log 


CHAPTER  PAGB 

XXIX.— IN  COMMAND  OF  THE   NEW  YORK     .          .          .      362 
The  Lighthouse  Board— Fire  at  Port-of-Spain— Off  for 
Kiel — In  the  Channel — A  nigger  prince— Arrival  at 
Kiel. 

XXX.— THE  KIEL  CELEBRATION 374 

A  skilful  emperor— Opening  the  canal— Fireworks— 
A  prince  unawares. 

XXXI.— THE  GERMAN  EMPEROR     .       .       .       .       .    382 
A  ball  on  board— Inspection  by  the  emperor— A  talk 
with  the  emperor. 

XXXII.— BACK  TO  HOME  WATERS    .       .       »       »       .    389 

Fleet  drills. 

XXXIII.— ON  THE  INDIANA       .       .       .     •..       .       .    393 

In  dock  at  Port  Royal — A  critical  moment — A  terrific 
gale — A  cutter  race — The  Personnel  Bill. 

XXXIV.— THE  APPROACH  OF  WAR    .       .       .       .        .    404 

Effect  of  the  Maine  disaster — Preparing  for  war — A 
base  wanted. 

XXXV.— THE  HAVANA  BLOCKADE  .  410 

Off  for  Cuba — Blockade  established — Ordered  to 
Puerto  Rico. 

XXXVI. — THE  CRUISE  TO  SAN  JUAN       .       .       .       .    416 

Arrival  at  San  Juan — A  bombardment — A  lesson  un 
der  fire. 

XXXVII. — WITH  THE  FLYING  SQUADRON       >       ,       .    423 

A  singular  accident — The  Flying  Squadron — Bewil 
dering  orders. 

XXXVIII.— FIGHTING  AT  LONG  RANGE      .       ,     ; ';  •...•„    430 

Cervera  discovered— Volunteers  wanted — Hobson's 
exploit — Guantanamo  seized — Startling  orders — The 
search  lights. 

vi 


Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXXIX.— THE  NAVAL  BATTLE  OFF  SANTIAGO          .       .    443 
The    Spanish  fleet  appears — Shells  coming  aboard — 
Destruction    of  Spanish  war  ships — Farewell   to  the 
Vizcaya— An  alarm — Caring  for  prisoners — A  glorious 
Fourth — The  end  of  war. 

XL.— CONCLUSION 460 

Presentation  of  a  sword. 

INDEX 463 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGB 


Robley   D.  Evans •       Frontispiece 

The  Powhatan 60 

I  persuaded  him  with  my  revolver  to  change  his  mind  .        .  94 

After  Fort  Fisher 104 

Midshipman  and  Captain 142 

The  Congress 176 

The  Saratoga 218 

Gunboat  Yorktown 244 

Harbour  of  Valparaiso,  Chile 298 

A  fur-seal  family  in  Bering  Sea 334 

Visit  of  the  German  Emperor  to  the  cruiser  New  York          .  385 

Battle  ship  Indiana 394 

Battle  ship  Iowa 414 

Admiral  Cervera's  reception  on  board  the  Iowa       .        .        .  456 


ix 


A  SAILOR'S   LOG 


CHAPTER  I 

LIFE   IN   VIRGINIA   BEFORE   THE   WAR 

BEFORE  spinning  the  yarn  of  my  forty  years  in  the 
navy,  it  seems  only  proper  that  I  should  give  a  short 
history  of  my  life  before  entering  the  service. 

I  was  born  in  Floyd  County,  Virginia,  August  18, 
1846. 

My  father,  Samuel  Andrew  Jackson  Evans,  M.  D., 
was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and 
named  me,  his  first  son,  after  Doctor  Robley  Dungli- 
son,  who  had  been  his  instructor  and  dear  friend.  The 
home  of  my  parents  was  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia, 
which,  at  the  time  of  my  birth,  were  almost  as  wild 
and  rough  as  the  partially  settled  mountains  of  the 
West.  We  did  not  have  savage  Indians  to  contend 
with,  but  we  did  have  their  savage  white  brothers. 

As  a  means  of  livelihood  my  father  followed  his 
profession  of  medicine,  and  he  was  the  only  doctor  in 
a  circuit  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles.  For  pleasure  he 
owned  slaves  and  farmed,  and  when  requested  to  do 
so,  represented  his  constituents  in  the  State  Legisla 
ture.  The  life  of  a  doctor  under  such  conditions  was 
a  very  hard  one,  particularly  in  the  winter  season.  Fre 
quently  he  had  to  be  in  the  saddle  all  night,  facing  the 

i 


A  Sailor's  Log 

storms  of  snow  and  rain,  to  help  some  sufferer  who 
could  only  offer  his  thanks  as  pay,  for  most  of  the  peo 
ple  were  very  poor.  It  was  this  exposure  that  finally 
cost  my  father  his  life  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood 
and  usefulness. 

My  first  distinct  memory  of  myself  is  when  I  was 
about  four  years  old.  I  had  rather  long,  light-coloured 
curls,  was  sturdy  in  health,  and  wore  a  blue  velvet  suit, 
with  a  feather  in  my  cap  for  ornament.  On  hiring 
day,  when  the  slaves  were  assembled  at  the  court 
house  to  find  employers  for  the  next  year,  I  wandered 
about  the  village  streets  and  considered  myself  of  im 
portance.  At  this  time  I  rode  from  my  home  to  the 
schoolhouse  every  day,  a  distance  of  five  miles;  and 
while  I  can  recall  the  way  the  teacher  used  to  thrash 
the  boys,  first  sending  them  to  cut  the  birches,  I  can 
not  recall  that  I  ever  learned  anything. 

When  I  was  six  years  old  I  was  the  happy  possessor 
of  a  gun,  a  pony,  and  a  negro  boy.  The  first  I  learned 
to  handle  with  considerable  skill,  was  devoted  to  its 
use,  and  in  all  my  life  since  have  found  both  health  and 
pleasure  from  the  hunting  habit  formed  at  that  early 
age.  The  pony,  as  I  now  recollect  him,  seemed  bent 
on  breaking  my  neck;  and  the  coloured  lad,  my  con 
stant  companion,  taught  me,  among  other  things,  to 
smoke  and  chew  tobacco.  He  impressed  on  my  mind 
many  superstitions  and  dreadful  ghost  stories,  some  of 
which  I  remember  to  this  day.  The  pony  had  one 
marked  characteristic  which  I  can  also  recall.  He 
would  go  beautifully  as  long  as  I  was  going  his  way, 
but  any  attempt  to  send  him  over  a  road  he  did  not 
wish  to  travel  led  to  trouble.  He  would  turn  round 

2 


A  Southern  Nurse 

and  round  and  buck  a  few  times,  to  rid  himself  of  his 
mount,  and,  failing  in  this,  lie  down  in  the  road  and 
roll  over.  I  managed,  however,  to  get  to  the  court 
house  on  most  days,  and  had  much  pleasure  and  com 
fort  from  his  ownership.  . 

Like  most  Southern  children,  I  was  brought  up 
and  cared  for  by  a  "  black  mammy,"  and  I  certainly 
loved  her  dearly.  She  was  a  short,  thickset,  very 
black  woman,  much  the  shape  of  a  flour  barrel.  In 
addition  to  the  care  of  four  of  us,  she  had  had  eight 
een  children  of  her  own;  but  with  it  all  she  always 
had  time  to  comfort  me  when  I  was  in  trouble,  which 
I  must  say  was  frequently  the  case.  No  matter  how 
busy  she  might  be,  she  could  make  the  time  to  coddle 
her  young  master  and  comfort  him  in  a  way  that  no 
other  could.  The  memory  of  her  corn  bread  and  fried 
chicken  lingers  with  me  after  all  these  years.  She  was 
freed  in  the  early  days  of  the  civil  war,  and  spent  the 
rest  of  her  life  in  the  city  of  Washington.  She  died 
in  the  Howard  Hospital  at  the  good  old  age  of  one 
hundred  and  two  years,  and  it  was  my  great  pleasure 
to  know  that  in  her  last  years  I  had  given  her  every 
comfort  that  she  could  desire,  and  so  paid  off  a  small 
portion  of  the  debt  I  owed  her.  My  grandmother  had 
given  her  to  my  mother  as  a  marriage  portion,  and 
the  faithful  old  soul  had  lived  her  life  in  our  family 
connection. 

Life  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia  in  my  early  boy 
hood  days  was  very  different  from  any  I  have  ever 
known  since.  The  country  was  thinly  settled,  and  the 
people  were  as  a  rule  poor,  but  what  they  had  they 
freely  shared  with  their  neighbours.  Their  hospitality 

3 


A  Sailor's  Log 

was  great  and  sincere.  They  were  honest,  hard-work 
ing  people,  who  insisted  on  straight  dealing,  and  they 
sometimes  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands  to  en 
force  their  ideas.  There  were  two  things  one  must 
not  do — steal  horses  or  interfere  with  his  neighbours' 
slaves.  Churches  and  schools  were  few  and  widely  dis 
tributed.  In  place  of  the  former  we  had  the  "  circuit 
rider,"  who  came  and  made  himself  at  home  almost 
as  a  member  of  the  family,  until  his  duties  were  per 
formed,  when  he  passed  on  to  some  other  farmhouse, 
and  so  in  turn  visited  the  whole  section.  In  the  sum 
mer  time  camp  meetings  were  organized,  and  then  the 
horsemen  and  horsewomen  gathered  from  all  the  sur 
rounding  mountains  and  enjoyed  themselves  in  a  very 
sensible  way.  Most  of  them  prayed  and  sang  until 
they  were  tired,  and  then  withdrew  to  their  tents  and 
ate  and  drank  the  good  things  that  had  been  prepared 
for  them.  Wheeled  vehicles  were  not  in  use  to  any 
general  extent  for  pleasure  purposes,  as  the  few  roads 
we  had  were  mere  trails  fit  only  for  horses.  Sometimes 
the  camp  would  be  made  near  a  smooth  stretch  of 
road,  and  after  the  ministers  and  the  shouters  had  done 
their  work  the  young  men  would  have  their  innings 
and  speed  their  favourite  horses;  certainly  there  could 
not  have  been  found  a  more  healthful  recreation  or 
a  happier  way  of  passing  a  week  during  the  heat  of 
the  summer. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  the  tobacco  had  been 
cured  and  the  apple  crop  gathered,  the  overseer  on 
my  father's  farm  usually  fitted  out  an  expedition  for 
Lynchburg.  This  consisted  of  a  number  of  six-horse 
wagons,  sufficient  to  carry  the  tobacco  and  such  other 

4 


Going  to  Market 

things  as  were  to  be  sold.  When  all  was  ready  the 
start  was  made,  and  this  starting  was  quite  an  occa 
sion.  Every  man,  woman,  and  child  wanted  something 
from  town,  and  the  list  was  never  completed  until  the 
train  was  some  miles  on  its  way.  I  can  recall  now 
the  joy  with  which  I  made  one  of  these  trips.  I  had 
a  comfortable  place  in  one  of  the  wagons  when  I 
wanted  to  ride  there,  or  I  could  mount  my  own  pony. 
At  night  we  camped  by  the  roadside,  and  after  sup 
per  listened  to  the  songs  of  the  teamsters  and  helpers 
until  bedtime.  Early  daylight  found  us  under  way  after 
a  breakfast  of  fried  bacon  and  chicken,  and  such  corn 
bread  as  one  can  never  have  now,  because  such  corn 
meal  as  we  ate  in  those  days  is  no  longer  made.  When 
we  arrived  at  our  destination  the  tobacco  was  soon 
weighed  into  the  warehouse,  the  apples  and  chickens 
and  bacon  sold,  and  then  we  enjoyed  the  shopping 
until  our  money  was  gone.  My  wants  were  few — a 
pair  of  high  winter  boots  with  red  tops,  a  saddle  for 
my  pony,  and  a  few  pounds  of  powder  and  shot  and 
half  a  dozen  boxes  of  caps.  Then  we  came  home  with 
our  long  list  of  things  for  the  winter — everything  from 
the  family  groceries  to  the  Christmas  presents  for  the 
slaves,  down  to  the  last  pickaninny  of  them  all. 

I  remember  well  what  a  great  joy  the  harvest 
season  was  to  me  as  a  youngster.  After  following  the 
cradlers,  splendid  great  black  fellows,  giants  in  phy 
sique,  until  noon,  the  cradles  were  laid  aside  and  the 
men  gathered  under  the  shade  trees  for  their  midday 
meal.  Then  the  man  who  had  led  the  gang  had  an 
extra  glass  of  apple-jack  to  encourage  him  for  the 
afternoon's  work,  also  a  few  kindly  words  of  encour- 
2  5 


A  Sailor's  Log 

agement  from  my  father,  if  he  happened  to  be  present. 
That  leader  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  greatest  men  in 
the  world!  My  particular  duty  and  pleasure  during 
these  harvest  days  was  to  carry  a  basket  lined  with  raw 
cotton  in  which  I  gathered  the  eggs  of  the  Bob  White. 
As  the  nests  were  cut  over  by  the  cradlers,  the  mother 
birds  left,  never  to  return,  and  I  at  once  gathered  the 
eggs  and  put  them  under  sitting  hens  to  be  hatched 
out.  There  was  one  particular  clover  field  which  was 
the  favourite  nesting  place  of  these  birds,  and  of  course 
my  particular  delight.  I  once  gathered  one  hundred 
and  twenty  eggs  in  this  field,  and  succeeded  in  hatch 
ing  most  of  them  under  a  hen  in  the  barn.  When  the 
small  birds  had  got  rid  of  their  shells,  it  was  interesting 
to  see  the  old  hen  try  to  manage  her  unnatural  brood. 
At  the  least  bit  of  noise  the  whole  lot  would  disappear, 
and  you  might  search  to  your  heart's  content  without 
finding  one.  The  old  hen  would  cluck  and  scratch 
with  great  energy,  but  the  young  birds  remained  in 
hiding  until  all  danger  was  passed.  As  winter  came 
on,  I  fed  these  birds  in  the  barnyard,  and  they  remained 
there  until  the  spring  came,  when  they  disappeared 
in  the  grain  fields. 

The  winters  were  very  severe,  and,  of  course,  life 
was  mostly  indoors.  When  the  river  was  in  condition 
for  such  sport,  we  spent  much  time  in  sleighing  on  it. 
My  father  had  brought  from  the  East  a  two-horse 
sleigh,  and  in  this  the  family  had  many  jolly  rides, 
particularly  on  moonlight  nights.  For  myself,  I  think 
I  preferred  to  stay  in  the  house,  where  it  was  warm, 
or  run  away  with  black  mammy  to  the  quarters  and 
hear  the  negroes  sing  and  see  them  dance.  I  don't 

6 


The  Days  of  Slavery 

remember  ever  having  much  pleasure  in  the  winter 
either  in  my  boyhood  or  since;  the  mere  fact  of  cold 
weather  is  enough  to  take  the  pleasure  out  of  life  for 
me.  We  usually  had  the  house  full  of  company  both 
winter  and  summer,  as  we  had  connections  who  lived 
far  enough  North  to  enjoy  the  winters,  and  others 
living  far  enough  South  to  enjoy  the  summers. 

Slaves  were  not  owned  in  large  numbers  in  the 
mountain  regions  of  Virginia.  There  was  no  necessity 
for  their  labour.  The  amount  of  tobacco  grown  was 
small,  and  the  country  was  thinly  settled.  Above  all, 
the  people  as  a  rule  were  poor  and  did  their  own 
farm  work.  I  don't  remember  how  many  my  father 
owned.  I  can  recall  a  dozen  or  more,  and  they  cer 
tainly  were  a  happy  lot.  I  never  saw  but  one  slave 
whipped,  and  he  was  struck  a  single  blow  with  a  ra-w- 
hide  on  his  bare  back  for  having  ill  treated  a  riding 
horse.  My  father  never  sold  one  of  his  slaves,  yet 
stories  were  frequently  circulated  that  he  was  going 
to  do  so,  and  this  led  to  no  end  of  trouble.  One  win 
ter  night  we  were  sitting  in  the  parlour  eating  apples 
and  black  walnuts,  which  was  the  habit  of  all  Virginia 
children  in  that  day,  before  retiring.  There  came  a 
knock  at  the  door,  and  when  it  was  opened  one  of  the 
negro  men  named  Sambo  presented  himself  covered 
with  blood.  He  told  my  father  that  a  robber  had 
thrown  a  hatchet  at  him  and  cut  him  badly.  On  ex 
amination  it  was  found  that  Sambo's  left  hand  was  in 
bad  shape — two  ringers  entirely  cut  off  and  two  others 
hanging  by  small  bits  of  skin.  His  hand  was  dressed 
and  he  was  sent  off  to  his  cabin ;  but  the  next  day  blood 
marks  on  the  snow  showed  his  trail,  and  we  soon  found 

7 


A  Sailor's  Log 

a  stump  on  the  bank  of  the  river  a  mile  or  so  from 
the  house,  where  he  had  cut  his  own  fingers  off.  He 
had  missed  his  hand  at  the  first  blow  in  the  dark,  but 
the  second  time  he  succeeded.  The  axe  with  which 
the  cutting  was  done  was  found  near  by,  where  he 
had  thrown  it.  When  confronted  with  the  evidence 
he  at  once  admitted  his  guilt,  and  pleaded  as  excuse 
that  he  believed  my  father  meant  to  send  him  away 
from  his  family;  that  he  had  been  so  informed,  and 
he  knew  that  no  one  would  buy  him  if  he  had  only 
one  hand.  The  poor  chap  learned  to  chop  wood  with 
one  hand,  and  that  was  his  sole  occupation  as  long  as 
I  knew  anything  about  him.  After  my  father's  death 
he  was  sold  with  the  rest  of  the  property,  and  brought 
seventy-five  dollars. 

Of  course,  no  one  can  defend  slavery  as  it  existed 
in  our  Southern  States,  nor  indeed  in  any  form;  but 
we  must  admit  that  in  some  ways  the  results  were 
not  wholly  bad.  No  one  can  deny  that  in  many  cases 
slaves  were  cruelly  treated,  but  this  was  not  the  gen 
eral  rule;  it  was  not  the  business  way  of  looking  out 
for  valuable  property,  to  place  it  on  no  higher  plane. 
Slaves,  as  a  rule,  were  too  valuable  to  be  ill  treated 
or  neglected.  The  curse  of  slavery  was  to  the  white 
race  and  not  the  black.  The  bad  effects  were  felt  by 
the  growing  generation  of  whites;  but  as  for  the 
blacks,  I  am  sure  their  lives  were  easier  and  happier 
then  than  since  they  were  given  their  freedom.  The 
slaves  on  my  father's  farm  did  not  come  themselves 
from  Africa,  but  I  have  no  doubt  their  parents,  or  cer 
tainly  their  grandparents,  did.  It  has  been  my  fortune 
to  see  something  of  the  Africans  in  their  own  coun- 

8 


Loyalty  of  the  Slaves 

try,  and  when  I  compare  them,  with  their  brutal  habits 
in  their  unlimited  freedom  and  self-government,  with 
the  black  people  who  were  slaves  in  this  country,  I 
must  conclude  that  slavery  was  not  all  bad.  There 
was  something  about  it  that  produced  honesty  and 
faithfulness  and  a  race  of  men  who,  when  their  mas 
ters  were  away  righting  to  keep  them  slaves,  took  the 
same  care  of  the  women  and  children  as  the  masters 
would  have  taken  of  them  themselves.  Their  record 
in  this  respect  is  certainly  as  fine  as  anything  in  his 
tory.  I  believe  there  is  not  an  authentic  case  of  slaves 
having  ill  treated  the  women  and  children  of  their 
masters  during  the  entire  civil  war.  Imagine  what 
would  have  been  the  result  if  these  women  and  chil 
dren  had  been  left  in  the  care  of  native  Africans  under 
such  conditions! 

My  father  died  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  and  I 
found  myself  the  head  of  the  family.  In  order  that  we 
might  be  near  good  schools,  my  mother  moved  at 
once  to  Fairfax  Courthouse.  There  my  schooling 
really  began,  but  only  continued  for  a  short  time.  It 
was  in  Fairfax  that  the  farmer  said  to  his  Northern 
friend  who  was  congratulating  him  on  the  large  size 
of  his  farm :  "  I  am  not  as  poor  as  you  seem  to  think. 
I  don't  own  all  that  land ! "  The  county  was  always 
rich  in  lawsuits,  averaging  probably  one  or  two  to 
the  acre,  and  since  the  civil  war  it  is  rich  in  historical 
incidents. 


9 


CHAPTER  II 

WITH    THE    INDIANS   AND    BUFFALO 

IN  the  year  1857  I  was  invited  to  make  my  home 
with  my  uncle,  Mr.  A.  H.  Evans,  in  Washington, 
which  I  gladly  did,  that  I  might  have  the  advantage 
of  good  schools.  I  found  this  new  home  a  real  home, 
and  from  my  uncle  and  aunt  I  received  all  the  loving- 
kindness  and  attention  that  I  could  have  had  from 
my  own  parents;  they  treated  me  as  one  of  their  own 
children,  except  that  they  were  never  as  severe  with 
my  small  faults  as  they  were  with  theirs.  To  my  dear 
aunt  I  owe  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  her  unfailing 
love  and  sympathy,  and  to  my  good  uncle  I  owe  my 
position  in  the  navy.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profes 
sion,  but  at  the  time  of  which  I  write  was  clerk  of 
the  House  Committee  on  Claims  and  a  busy  news 
paper  man. 

Soon  after  reaching  Washington  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  be  admitted  to  the  public  school  presided 
over  by  Mr.  John  W.  Thompson,  who  was  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  best  teachers  Washington  has  ever  known. 
I  think  I  could  have  learned  a  great  many  things  from 
this  good  man,  but  my  career  in  his  school  was  very 
short.  One  day,  after  a  smart  rainstorm,  I  was  trying 
to  sail  a  toy  boat  in  a  pond  in  the  school  yard  when 

10 


Boyhood  in  Washington 

one  of  the  larger  boys  smashed  my  boat  with  a  stone. 
I  immediately  smashed  him  with  another,  and  he  was 
carried  home  on  a  door.  I  was  soon  at  my  home  with 
my  books  and  belongings,  and  thus  ended  my  public- 
school  life.  After  a  few  weeks  I  was  entered  at  Gon- 
zaga  College,  preparatory  to  Georgetown  College, 
and  here  I  was  lucky  enough  to  remain  until  my 
school  days  in  civil  life  were  ended.  In  this  excellent 
school  I  learned,  or  was  supposed  to  learn,  much 
Greek,  Latin,  and  other  things.  Afterward,  when  I 
went  to  Athens  on  a  vessel  of  war,  I  tried  to  practise 
some  of  my  Greek,  but  only  met  with  indifferent  suc 
cess;  the  people  to  whom  I  spoke  were  at  a  loss  to 
know  even  what  language  I  was  trying  to  speak. 

Much  of  my  spare  time  was  spent  about  the  com 
mittee  rooms  of  the  Capitol,  and  on  the  floor  of  the 
House,  where  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  some  of 
the  men  who  afterward  became  so  prominent  in  the 
history  of  the  country;  among  them  I  remember  par 
ticularly  John  A.  Logan  and  Mr.  Maynard,  of  Ten 
nessee.  I  also  passed  many  happy  hours  on  the  water 
front,  watching  the  various  sailing  craft  as  they  came 
and  went.  I  had  never  seen  salt  water,  and  I  don't 
think  I  knew  a  single  naval  officer;  but  somehow  it 
came  to  me  that  I  should  like  a  sea  life,  and  from  this 
time  on  the  idea  was  never  out  of  my  mind.  I  had 
about  decided  to  run  away  to  sea,  when  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  Hooper,  the  delegate  in  Congress 
from  the  Territory  of  Utah,  with  whom  my  uncle  was 
in  some  way  associated.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  like 
an  appointment  to  Annapolis,  to  which  I  very 
promptly  replied  that  nothing  in  the  world  would 

ii 


A  Sailor's  Log 

please  me  so  much.  In  order  to  have  the  appoint 
ment,  however,  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  go  to 
Salt  Lake  City  and  become  a  resident.  I  had  four 
days  in  which  to  prepare  for  what  was,  at  that  time,  a 
very  long  and  dangerous  journey;  but  the  end  of  the 
fourth  day  found  me  ready  for  the  start. 

When  I  left  Washington,  in  1859,  by  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  Railroad,  I  carried  all  my  worldly 
goods  in  a  large,  old-fashioned  grip  sack.  It  con 
tained,  among  other  things,  a  navy  revolver,  which 
was  about  half  as  long  as  I  was,  and  the  ammunition 
for  this  weapon.  On  my  person  in  a  money  belt  I  car 
ried  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  gold,  and  in  my 
pocket  a  ticket  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  I  can  recall 
after  all  these  years  the  feeling  of  loneliness  that  came 
over  me  when  I  changed  cars  at  the  Relay  House  and 
headed  for  the  West.  The  job  that  I  had  cut  out  for 
myself  came  to  me  then  with  full  force,  and  I  felt  that 
the  chance  of  my  ever  coming  back  was  very  small. 
But  youth  and  health  are  great  things,  and  I  was  soon 
comfortably  asleep  on  one  of  the  seats,  happily  ob 
livious  of  my  surroundings.  In  those  days  sleepers 
and  dining  cars  were  undiscovered  luxuries.  Passen 
gers  slept  as  best  they  could,  and  snatched  their  meals 
from  designated  stations  along  the  road.  Everything 
went  well  with  me  until  we  reached  Davis,  in  the  State 
of  Missouri,  where  we  were  to  spend  the  night,  as 
there  was  no  connection  on  to  St.  Joseph.  Upon 
reaching  the  nearest  tavern  I  deposited  my  travelling 
bag  with  the  clerk  in  the  office  and  retired,  very  sleepy 
and  used  up.  When  I  awoke  in  the  early  morning  I 
went  to  the  office  to  get  some  necessary  articles  from 

12 


Adventures  of  Travel 

my  bag,  but  upon  trying  the  key  found  to  my  dismay 
that  it  would  not  unlock  the  valise  given  me,  though 
it  seemed  from  appearances  to  be  mine.  Investiga 
tion  soon  disclosed  the  fact  that  an  old  gentleman  who 
had  gone  East  on  a  train  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  had  taken  my  bag  and  left  me  his.  The  proprietor 
of  the  hotel  wired  for  the  lost  article,  but  without  suc 
cess;  so,  after  waiting  over  one  train,  I  broke  open 
the  bag  and  found,  among  other  things,  half  a  dozen 
beautiful  fine  white  linen  ruffled  shirts — any  one  of 
them  large  enough  to  make  two  or  three  garments 
for  me.  Quite  a  crowd  had  gathered  in  the  office  of 
the  hotel,  all  hands  full  of  sympathy  for  the  small  kid 
who  had  lost  his  outfit.  After  overhauling  the  bag, 
I  mounted  a  chair  and  disposed  of  the  articles  at  auc 
tion,  and  realized  a  sum  quite  sufficient  to  replace  the 
things  I  had  lost. 

At  St.  Joseph  I  met  friends  to  whom  I  was  con 
signed,  and  they  assisted  me  in  finding  a  suitable  party 
going  my  way,  and  in  arranging  the  outfit.  We  were 
a  party  of  six — five  for  California  and  one  for  Salt 
Lake  City.  Our  wagons  were  soon  purchased  and 
stocked  with  the  necessary  provisions,  blankets,  etc. 
Then  we  bought  the  horses  and  arms,  and  in  a  few 
days  we  were  ready  to  start.  My  riding  animal  was  a 
rather  large  gray  Mexican  mule,  which,  as  it  after 
ward  turned  out,  could  smell  an  Indian  farther,  and, 
under  the  influence  of  his  scent,  run  faster  than  any 
animal  in  the  outfit.  I  was,  of  course,  a  very  light 
weight,  and  it  was  all  I  could  do  at  first  to  manage  the 
beast.  He  could  outbite  and  outkick  anything  that 
ever  came  my  way.  Without  intending  to  do  so,  I  de- 

13 


A  Sailor's  Log 

layed  our  start  one  day,  and  came  very  near  delaying 
it  for  all  time,  as  far  as  I  personally  was  concerned.  I 
had  gone  to  a  gymnasium  with  some  other  boys  of 
my  own  age,  when  one  of  them  did  a  trick  on  the  hori 
zontal  bar  which  I  was  invited  to  imitate.  I  tried, 
but  brought  up  squarely  on  top  of  my  head  on  the 
floor.  Slight  concussion  of  the  brain  was  the  result, 
and  the  doctor  had  me  in  hand  that  night  and  part 
of  the  next  day. 

We  finally  ferried  over  the  Missouri  River  and 
pulled  out  for  our  long  trip  over  the  prairies.  Each 
member  of  the  party  had  his  particular  duty  and  work 
to  do,  and  each  one  had  to  do  it  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  guide  in  charge,  one  Bromley  by  name.  As  I 
was  very  young  and  small,  I  was  assigned  to  assist  the 
cook  in  preparing  meals,  and  was  sometimes  sent  out 
after  game,  but  was  excused  from  standing  watch  at 
night.  Each  one  had  to  look  after  his  own  animals, 
arms,  etc. 

Our  journey  for  the  first  few  days  was  through  the 
Kickapoo  Indian  country.  We  passed  through  several 
of  their  villages,  the  leading  feature  of  which  was  the 
great  number  of  wolfish-looking  dogs  they  had;  they 
were  barking  and  snapping  at  our  horses  continually 
from  the  time  we  sighted  the  villages  until  we  were  a 
mile  or  so  beyond  them.  These  Indians  seemed  friend 
ly,  and,  like  all  others  that  I  saw,  lazy  and  dirty,  but 
picturesque. 

After  the  first  week  we  headed  for  the  South 
Platte  River,  and  were  soon  among  the  buffalo. 
We  found  them  in  scattered  herds,  and  then  in 
a  solid  mass — the  whole  country  covered  with  them 

14 


Among  the  Buffalo 

as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  literally  untold  thousands 
of  them.  At  one  time  we  drove  through  a  herd  for 
three  days  without  ever  being  out  of  gunshot  of  these 
magnificent  animals.  Frequently  we  had  to  stop  and 
put  all  our  own  animals  between  the  wagons  to  pre 
vent  their  being  run  over  and  stampeded.  I  noticed 
one  curious  trait  of  the  buffalo:  they  would  trot 
alongside  of  our  outfit  for  miles,  and  then  suddenly 
forge  ahead  and  cross  our  track!  They  never  seemed 
to  care  to  cross  behind  us.  When  the  herd  was  mak 
ing  for  water,  they  seemed  to  travel  in  single  file,  with 
a  fine  full-grown  bull  in  the  lead.  The  straight,  nar 
row  paths  they  made  led  over  the  top  of  any  small 
hill  or  roll  in  the  prairie;  and  we  often  saw  the  leader 
some  distance  ahead  of  the  others,  standing  like  a 
statue  on  an  elevation,  looking  apparently  for  signs 
of  danger.  We  shot  many  of  them,  of  course,  but  in 
most  cases  only  removed  their  tongues,  leaving  the 
rest  for  the  wolves,  which  in  large  numbers  hung  on 
to  the  edges  of  the  herd.  The  usual  way  of  killing 
them  was  to  ride  up  fairly  close  and  empty  a  revolver 
into  the  one  selected,  aiming  to  strike  behind  the 
point  of  the  shoulder  blade.  In  most  cases  two  or 
three  shots  were  required  before  blood  appeared  at 
the  mouth,  which  was  a  sure  sign  that  the  animal  was 
done  for.  I  used  a  Colt's  revolving  rifle,  a  five-shooter, 
and  with  this  I  was  not  required  to  get  to  such  close 
quarters,  a  proceeding  that  my  mule  always  ob 
jected  to. 

In  this  beautiful  valley  of  the  South  Platte  we 
passed  many  emigrant  trains  bound  to  the  West  and 
Northwest.  They  were  corralled  generally,  sometimes 

15 


A  Sailor's  Log 

as  many  as  fifty  wagons  in  one  corral,  fhe  Horses  feed 
ing  about  over  the  plains  during  the  daytime,  but  care 
fully  guarded  at  night,  for  fear  of  Indians,  who  were 
generally  to  be  found  looking  for  something  to  steal. 
The  wagons  had  the  canvas  covers  taken  off,  and  the 
exposed  frames  used  for  "  jerking "  buffalo  meat. 
Hundreds  of  buffalo  were  killed,  the  hides  removed, 
and  the  meat  cut  into  thin  strips  and  hung  on  the 
wagon  frames,  where  it  slowly  dried  in  the  sun.  Owing 
to  the  pureness  of  the  air,  no  salt  was  required  to  pre 
serve  it,  and  meat  thus  treated  would  last  the  emi 
grants  all  the  way  out  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Our  party 
did  not  care  for  "  jerked  "  meat,  but  we  did  enjoy 
many  antelope  hams,  which  were  cured  by  simply  put 
ting  them  on  the  end  of  a  pole  fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
long  and  exposing  them  to  the  sun  for  a  day  or  two. 
All  the  way  up  the  Platte  Valley  we  met  with  the 
buffalo  in  such  vast  numbers  that  the  idea  of  exter 
minating  them  would  have  seemed  absurd,  if  such  a 
thought  had  entered  any  one's  mind;  though  they 
were  killed  by  the  thousand,  it  seemed  to  make  no  dif 
ference  in  the  size  of  the  herds;  but  this  was  only  be 
cause  no  careful  estimate  of  the  number  was  made 
from  year  to  year.  As  we  drove  or  rode  along  over  the 
prairie  the  carcasses  of  the  buffalo  covered  the  ground 
in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Im 
mense  numbers  of  piles  of  white  bones  showed  where 
the  animals  had  fallen  in  past  years,  and  the  thick 
brown  spots  indicated  this  season's  work  of  destruc 
tion.  In  most  cases  the  tongue  was  cut  out,  and  the 
rest  left  to  decay  or  be  eaten  by  the  wolves — the  hide 
was  not  even  removed.  I  came  back  over  this  same 

16 


Camping  on  the  Plains 

route  in  1892,  and  was  amazed  to  find  that  all  these 
bones  had  been  carefully  gathered  up,  sent  East,  and 
sold.  Where  there  had  been  millions  of  buffalo  not  a 
single  herd  of  the  magnificent  game  animals  remained; 
all  of  them  had  been  destroyed,  and  in  a  great  measure 
wantonly. 

We  crossed  the  Platte  at  Thompson's  Ford,  a  hun 
dred  or  so  miles  east  of  Pike's  Peak,  and  struck  off 
to  the  northwest  toward  Chimney  Rock  and  Fort 
Laramie.  The  trail  was  fairly  good,  and  our  journey 
most  comfortable.  Wre  usually  made  an  early  start, 
and,  halting  for  a  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
brought  up  in  the  afternoon  in  time  to  make  ourselves 
comfortable  before  dark — this  programme  depending 
somewhat  upon  the  water,  which  was  a  question  of 
vital  importance.  Having  reached  the  water,  our  tent 
was  soon  up,  the  wagons  arranged  so  as  to  give  as 
much  protection  and  shelter  as  possible,  and  the  horses 
secured  near  by  to  feed  on  the  luxuriant  grass.  Then 
my  part  of  the  work  was  soon  done:  coffee,  bread,  and 
bacon  or  game  were  served,  and  after  the  guard  for  the 
night  was  arranged  we  turned  in  and  were  soon  sound 
asleep.  I  was  small  enough  to  sleep  comfortably  in 
the  body  of  one  of  the  wagons,  and  this  was  my  usual 
place.  Sometimes  I  would  vary  the  monotony  by  roll 
ing  up  in  my  blanket  and  turning  in  on  the  grass  under 
the  wagon.  When  we  reached  the  rattlesnake  ground 
I  broke  myself  very  quickly  of  this  habit,  and  always 
slept  in  the  wagon. 

Fort  Laramie  was  reached  in  due  time,  and,  after 
replenishing  some  of  our  stores,  we  continued  on  our 
way.  I  think  it  was  the  second  day  out  from  this 

17 


A  Sailor's  Log 

post  that  we  had  our  first  serious  trouble.  In  trying 
to  cross  a  small  stream  in  a  marshy  place  late  in  the 
afternoon  our  leading  wagon  stuck  in  the  mud,  and 
the  united  efforts  of  all  hands  failed  to  pull  it  out. 
We  concluded  to  sleep  over  it,  and  so  turned  in  for 
the  night.  At  early  daylight  we  found  ourselves  sur 
rounded  by  hostile  Indians,  and  they  soon  relieved 
us  of  all  further  bother  about  our  outfit  by  chasing 
us  away,  taking  what  they  wanted  and  burning  the 
wagons.  We  saved  some  food,  all  our  arms,  powder, 
etc.,  and  all  the  animals.  The  Indians  made  it  very 
interesting  for  us  for  ten  or  twelve  hours  until  we 
found  cover,  when  we  returned  the  compliment  with 
interest.  My  old  mule  with  his  light  mount  was  easily 
the  fastest  animal  in  that  outfit.  After  standing  the 
Pawnees  off  for  some  time  and  killing  a  good  many 
of  them,  we  made  our  way  back  to  Fort  Laramie, 
where  we  managed  to  secure  one  wagon  and  some 
pack  animals,  bought  a  fresh  lot  of  supplies,  and  con 
tinued  on  our  way. 

We  had  frequent  trouble  with  Indians  until  after 
passing  Fort  Bridger,  where,  owing  to  the  absence  of 
the  buffalo  herds,  we  were  comparatively  free  from 
them.  Once  we  were  ambushed  by  the  Blackfeet,  a 
tribe  supposed  to  be  peaceable;  but  a  hunting  party 
of  them  thought  it  an  easy  way  to  get  some  fine  ani 
mals,  and  so  laid  a  trap  for  us.  We  marched  into 
their  trap  just  after  daylight  in  the  morning,  but  as 
they  had  no  guns,  we  soon  got  clear  of  them,  after 
a  hard  tussle  at  close  quarters.  I  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  get  an  arrow  through  the  tendon  of  my  left 
ankle,  which  penetrated  also  the  ribs  of  my  mule,  and 

18 


A  Fight  with  Indians 

made  him  perform  many  new  tricks,  much  to  my  dis 
comfort.  After  we  had  ridden  a  few  miles  over  very 
rough  ground  and  had  sent  the  Indians  on  their  way 
much  reduced  in  numbers,  we  stopped  to  take  account 
of  stock.  Bromley,  the  guide,  was  the  only  one  be 
sides  myself  who  had  been  struck;  he  had  an  arrow 
through  the  skin  over  his  stomach,  which  at  first 
looked  as  if  it  had  gone  clear  through  him  from  side 
to  side.  My  mule  had  only  three  arrows  in  him,  but 
some  of  the  animals  resembled  the  "  fretful  porcu 
pine,"  being  struck  pretty  thickly  all  over.  To  get  me 
out  of  the  saddle  was  something  of  a  job,  as  the  arrow 
was  driven  through  the  buffalo  hide  of  my  stirrup  and 
into  a  rib  of  the  mule.  Any  approach  toward  him  was 
enough  to  make  him  dance  on  his  hind  feet  in  true  cir 
cus  fashion.  A  lasso  around  both  of  his  forelegs  finally 
brought  him  to  terms,  and  then,  the  arrow  being  cut 
between  my  leg  and  his  side,  I  was  released  from  my 
unpleasant  seat.  The  wound  was  not  serious,  having 
been  made  with  a  hunting  arrow;  but  I  rode  mostly 
with  one  foot  for  a  week  afterward.  A  few  days  later, 
or  rather  a  few  nights,  this  same  gang  came  very  near 
getting  us.  We  were  camped  in  a  grove  of  cotton- 
wood  trees,  and  had  no  idea  that  Indians  were  after  us, 
though  we  were  on  the  lookout  for  them.  In  the  mid 
dle  of  the  night  a  man  rode  into  our  camp  at  full  speed 
and  told  us  of  our  danger.  He  was  a  pony-express 
rider,  and  in  passing  the  red  devils  one  of  them  had 
struck  at  him  with  some  sharp  weapon  and  nearly  cut 
his  foot  in  two.  His  accident  saved  us  from  a  hot 
fight,  no  doubt,  and  he  remained  with  us  until  we 
reached  the  next  express  station. 

19 


A  Sailor's  Log 

At  Fort  Bridger  we  were  most  kindly  received  by 
the  officers  and  men  of  the  Second  Dragoons  sta 
tioned  there.  We  remained  several  days,  to  get  in 
good  shape  for  the  final  lap  that  was  to  land  us  in 
Salt  Lake  City.  There  was  a  beautiful  trout  stream 
running  through  the  fort,  and  I  amused  myself  by 
trying  to  catch  fish.  I  don't  recall  that  I  was  very  suc 
cessful,  though  I  perfectly  remember  seeing  an  Indian 
catch  trout  by  snaring  them.  He  sat  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream,  motionless  as  a  statue;  in  his  right  hand 
he  held  a  short  rod  or  stick,  from  the  end  of  which  de 
pended  a  fine  copper  wire  with  a  loop  in  the  lower  end. 
He  would  watch  a  fish  swimming  slowly  near  him  and 
slip  the  noose  over  its  head  and  throw  it  out  on  the 
bank.  This  kind  of  sport  required  just  the  crafty, 
sneaking  traits  of  an  Indian. 

From  Fort  Bridger  we  made  our  way  to  Robin 
son's  Ferry  on  Green  River,  where  we  were  destined  to 
make  quite  a  stay.  Robinson  was  a  Frenchman,  and 
kept  a  trading  post  and  ran  the  ferry  over  the  river. 
His  storehouses  contained  a  vast  stock  of  furs  ready 
for  shipment  East,  and  in  addition  all  the  articles  usu 
ally  dealt  in  by  Indians  and  emigrants.  Whisky,  I 
think,  was  the  leading  article  in  demand  by  all  parties, 
and  this  he  had — very  bad  and  in  large  quantities. 
Shortly  after  our  arrival  we  placed  all  our  horses  in  a 
corral  near  the  storehouse,  and  were  glad  to  think 
they  were  safe  for  the  time.  In  the  afternoon  a  party 
of  Bannocks  rode  up  and  wanted  to  swap  horses.  One 
of  our  party  went  with  them  to  the  inclosure  to  let 
them  examine  our  stock,  but  they  had  scarcely  entered 
before  they  set  up  a  yell,  and  away  they  went  down 

20 


"Little  Breeches" 

the  river,  horses  and  all.  The  last  we  saw  of  them 
my  old  mule  was  leading,  and  setting  a  hot  pace  for 
the  rest.  The  Bannocks  were  too  strong  for  us  to  think 
of  following  them,  so  we  decided  to  remain  where  we 
were  until  some  other  parties  arrived,  when  we  would 
move  on  with  them,  and  thus  be  better  prepared  to 
stand  the  Indians  off  if  they  attacked  us. 

Two  days  after  the  stampede  Washakie  and  his  band 
of  Snake  Indians  camped  near  us,  and  when  we  told 
him,  or  rather  when  his  old  friend  Robinson  told  him, 
what  had  happened,  he  started  off  with  two  or  three 
hundred  warriors  after  the  Bannocks.  At  the  end  of 
four  days  he  came  back  with  a  drove  of  horses,  ours 
among  them,  and  told  us  to  help  ourselves.  Of  course 
there  had  to  be  a  powwow  and  smoke  over  his  suc 
cess,  and  during  the  ceremony  he  passed  whisky 
around  for  all  hands  to  drink  with  him.  When  he 
came  to  me,  after  looking  at  my  small  frame,  he  took 
the  powder  measure  from  his  belt,  filled  it,  and  gravely 
handed  it  to  me  with  the  remark  "  Little  Breeches, 
drink  that."  I  was  known  on  the  plains  as  "  Little 
Breeches." 

During  the  evening  of  this  powwow  many  of  the 
Indians  were  howling  drunk  around  the  camp,  and,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  most  of  the  white  men  were  in  the 
same  condition.  I  was  rolled  up  asleep  under  our 
wagon,  when  I  was  seized  and  thrown  on  to  an  Indian 
pony  by  a  son  of  the  chief  Washakie.  I  promptly 
slipped  off  on  the  other  side  as  soon  as  I  could  free 
myself  from  the  blanket,  and  ran  for  the  storehouse, 
where  I  placed  myself  under  the  protection  of  Robin 
son.  The  young  Indian  came  after  me  and  explained 

21 

3 


A  Sailor's  Log 

that  he  wanted  me  to  go  to  his  camp  with  him,  and 
that  he  meant  me  no  harm.  As  he  was  quite  drunk  at 
the  time,  we  concluded  not  to  discuss  the  matter  until 
the  next  day.  The  following  morning  Washakie  him 
self  came,  and  after  a  long  talk  Robinson  said  that  I 
had  better  go,  as  the  chief  had  promised  to  bring  me 
back  safely  at  the  end  of  ten  days;  that  if  I  did  not 
go  willingly  he  would  take  me  anyhow,  and  in  that 
case  there  was  no  telling  when  I  might  get  back.  It 
was  agreed  that  if  the  party  had  to  go  on  before  my 
return,  my  belongings  should  be  left  at  the  ferry  for 
me,  and  that  I  should  finish  my  journey  with  some 
other  party.  The  Indians  started  up  the  Green  River 
that  afternoon,  and  had  it  not  been  for  my  fear  of 
treachery  I  should  have  enjoyed  my  ten  days  among 
them  very  much.  I  learned  afterward  that  Washakie 
had  always  been  a  stanch  friend  of  the  white  men, 
and  served  them  well  on  many  occasions.  He  was 
very  tall — over  six  feet — and  the  finest-looking  Indian 
I  ever  saw.  He  was  most  kind  and  generous  to  me 
always,  and  brought  me  back  at  the  time  he  had 
promised. 

While  I  was  with  them  the  Indians  hunted  nearly 
all  the  time,  and  killed  large  quantities  of  game 
of  various  kinds.  The  tribe  consisted  of  about  a  thou 
sand  people,  and  when  we  camped  their  ponies  and 
dogs  seemed  to  cover  the  country  for  miles  around. 
The  ponies  were  so  well  trained  that  a  warrior  could 
walk  a  few  steps  from  his  wigwam  and  whistle  or  call 
his  pony  from  the  drove  feeding  on  the  prairie  some 
distance  away.  I  belonged  to  the  chiefs  mess,  so  to 
speak,  and  had  to  sleep  in  his  tepee,  which  was  the 

22 


Whistling  Indians 

most  disagreeable  part  of  my  experience;  the  sleepers 
were  too  numerous  and  the  air  too  foul  for  comfort. 
During  the  day  we  marched  or  hunted,  and  as  soon 
as  we  were  camped  I  was  expected  to  wrestle  with 
some  of  the  Indian  lads  of  my  own  age,  which  always 
seemed  to  amuse  the  chief.  I  could  throw  the  boys, 
as  a  rule,  but  as  their  hides  were  well  greased  I  never 
could  hold  them.  Washakie  taught  me  to  shoot  with 
bow  and  arrow,  and  to  use  the  lasso,  and  as  soon  as 
we  started  put  his  squaws  to  work  making  buckskin 
clothing  for  me.  These  garments  fitted  me  well 
enough,  and  were  things  of  beauty,  with  their  fringe 
and  beads. 

One  incident  of  this  visit  I  recall  vividly.  We 
were  camped  near  the  river,  where  the  willows  grew 
plentifully,  and,  for  want  of  something  better  to  do, 
I  cut  one  of  these  and  made  a  whistle.  When  I 
walked  in  among  the  warriors  and  gave  a  sharp  blast 
on  my  whistle  there  was  a  scattering  and  seizing  of 
arms  that  caused  me  some  uneasiness.  Not  one  of  the 
tribe  had  ever  seen  such  a  thing,  and  during  the  next 
two  days  I  was  kept  busy  whittling  out  whistles.  It 
was  a  curious  sight  to  see  grown  men,  and  women, 
too,  for  that  matter,  walking  about,  solemnly  tooting 
on  a  willow  whistle. 

At  the  time  promised  I  was  back  at  the  ferry,  and 
found  my  party  waiting — not  so  much  for  me,  because 
I  found  afterward  that  they  all  believed  that  I  was 
gone  for  good,  but  to  accumulate  force  enough  to  face 
the  Bannocks,  who  were  in  ugly  mood  over  the  loss 
of  their  horses.  Before  we  reached  the  ferry  Washakie 
had  a  long  talk  with  me,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the 

23 


A  Sailor's  Log 

advantages  that  would  come  to  me  if  I  would  let  him 
adopt  me — the  ponies  I  would  own,  and  that  I  might 
some  day  even  have  one  of  his  daughters  for  my  wife; 
but  Indian  life  had  less  charm  for  me  the  more  I  saw 
of  it.  I  thanked  him  as  best  I  could,  and  was  very 
glad  when  we  had  put  the  river  and  many  miles  of 
prairie  between  us  and  my  Snake  friends.  The  pres 
ents  he  gave  me — bows  and  arrows,  pipes,  and  buck 
skin  clothing — I  carried  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  some 
of  them  eventually  back  to  Washington. 


24 


CHAPTER  III 

IN   THE   MORMON    COUNTRY 

AFTER  crossing  Green  River  our  course  lay  along 
Ham's  Fork  in  the  direction  of  South  Pass,  the  high 
est  point  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  we  had  to  cross.  We 
passed  the  wreck  of  the  supply  trains  of  our  army 
burned  by  the  Mormons  in  1857.  The  wagons  had 
been  drawn  up  in  a  circle  and  there  burned — the  circle 
still  showing,  and  dotted  here  and  there  with  tires  and 
such  ironwork  as  the  Indians  had  not  cared  to  carry 
away.  At  one  place  we  struck  alkali  dust,  and  as  soon 
as  our  water  gave  out  we  found  ourselves  and  our  ani 
mals  in  pitiable  condition.  Our  lips  and  eyes  grew 
sore,  and  our  tongues  swelled  until  we  could  scarcely 
talk.  After  we  had  passed  the  dangerous  place  we 
came  upon  an  emigrant  who  had  a  barrel  of  whisky  in 
the  tail  of  his  wagon.  There  was  no  spigot  in  it,  and  he 
refused  to  put  one  in,  but  after  a  long,  wordy  contest 
he  agreed  that  he  would  bore  a  gimlet  hole  in  the 
barrel,  each  man  should  select  a  straw,  and  for  two 
bits  he  could  suck  all  the  whisky  he  wanted  without 
drawing  breath.  They  selected  straws  very  carefully, 
and  I  remember  how  each  man  held  on  until  he  was 
blue  in  the  face  before  admitting  that  his  drink  was 
done. 

25 


A  Sailor's  Log 

On  entering  South  Pass  we  camped  at  Pacific 
Spring  and  made  ourselves  comfortable,  as  there  was 
no  longer  fear  of  trouble  with  the  Indians,  and  our 
animals  needed  rest  and  grass.  The  spring  covered 
a  space  of  forty  by  thirty  feet,  and  the  water  bubbled 
up  cold  and  clear  as  crystal  and  ran  toward  the  Pacific 
— hence  its  name.  A  few  doves  or  wild  pigeons  were 
feeding  about  the  camp.  The  guide  bet  me  that  I 
could  not  kill  one  with  my  rifle,  and  this  led  to  my 
killing  my  first  elk.  I  was  anxious  to  win  the  bet,  and 
was  following  the  bird  as  he  flew  about  on  the  trees 
to  make  sure  of  a  fair  shot.  In  this  way  I  wandered 
off  from  the  trail  into  the  thick  cover  on  the  side  of 
the  pass,  and  was  about  to  fire  at  the  pigeon,  when  I 
heard  a  breaking  of  twigs  near  me,  but  above  me,  on 
the  mountain.  My  first  idea  was  Indians,  and,  stand 
ing  perfectly  still  in  my  tracks,  I  took  a  quiet  look. 
Within  thirty  yards  of  me  was  a  magnificent  animal 
looking  straight  at  me,  his  head  and  antlers  only  show 
ing  through  the  thick  cover.  I  raised  the  gun  to  my 
shoulder  very  quietly,  and,  taking  good  aim  at  a  spot 
between  his  eyes,  fired.  He  made  a  great  bound  down 
the  side  of  the  mountain  in  my  direction,  and  at  the 
same  moment  I  started  for  camp  as  fast  as  my  legs 
could  carry  me,  and  did  not  stop  until  I  got  there. 
Bromley  asked  me  if  I  had  killed  the  bird,  to  which  I 
replied  that  I  had  not,  but  I  believed  I  had  killed  the 
father  of  all  deer.  Up  to  that  time  I  had  never  seen 
an  elk.  When  we  reached  the  spot  we  found  a  beauti 
ful  specimen,  with  grand  antlers,  with  a  bullet  fairly 
through  his  brain.  I  had  killed  him  stone  dead,  and 
he  had  slid  almost  to  where  I  stood  when  I  fired.  The 

26 


A   Mormon   Train 

bet  was  called  off,  and  removing  the  head,  we  skinned 
the  game,  and  the  entire  party  had  all  the  meat  they 
wanted  for  several  days. 

Afterward  we  saw  immense  herds  of  elk,  many 
thousands  in  a  herd,  and  we  had  no  trouble  in  killing 
them  whenever  we  chose.  We  also  saw  and  killed  a 
number  of  mountain  sheep,  a  very  curious  animal  with 
enormously  large  horns.  The  guide  told  marvellous 
stories  of  their  jumping  down  great  distances,  land 
ing  on  their  horns,  which  might,  for  all  I  know,  have 
been  true;  but  I  never  saw  one  of  them  do  it.  They 
were  wary  and  hard  to  get  at,  as  compared  with  other 
kinds  of  game,  and  I  never  saw  much  of  them — only 
for  a  moment  before  I  fired,  and  then  the  sheep  was 
either  dead  or  off  out  of  sight  like  a  flash. 

After  leaving  South  Pass  we  fell  in  with  a  Mormon 
train,  consisting  mostly  of  women  from  Wales,  bound 
for  Salt  Lake  City.  These  people,  who  seemed  a  de 
cent  lot,  had  few  large  wagons,  but  appeared  to  depend 
for  transportation  on  a  species  of  handcart,  which  con 
tained  their  belongings  and  were  pushed  along  by  the 
women.  A  few  wagons  carried  the  provisions,  and 
these  were  looked  after  by  the  dozen  or  so  men  of  the 
party.  All  the  work  was  done  by  the  women,  which 
was  a  foretaste  of  what  their  lot  was  to  be  after  arriv 
ing  at  their  destination. 

In  the  forenoon  of  a  beautiful  day  we  had  our  first 
view  of  Salt  Lake  City  as  we  slowly  wound  our  way 
down  Echo  Canon.  The  mountains  rose  to  a  great 
height  on  either  side,  and  were  still  surmounted  by 
the  low  stone  breastworks  thrown  up  by  the  Mor 
mons  to  oppose  the  entry  of  United  States  troops  two 

27 


A  Sailor's  Log 

years  before.  Through  the  canon  ran  a  small  but 
swift  stream,  and  upon  this  the  beavers  were  industri 
ously  building  their  dams,  some  of  which  were  really 
works  of  art.  These  curious  beasts  were  to  be  seen  in 
hundreds — some  cutting  the  logs  for  the  dams,  and 
others  using  their  curious  flat  tails  as  trowels  to  ce 
ment  the  face  of  the  dam  with  mud.  Many  of  the  dams 
had  been  cut  in  order  to  make  the  road  available,  but, 
when  left  to  themselves,  the  beavers  soon  had  them 
repaired.  The  beavers  have  disappeared,  as  have  the 
buffalo  and  other  large  game  of  the  West,  but  in  their 
case  the  excuse  can  be  made  that  the  fur  was  used  to 
some  good  purpose;  in  the  case  of  the  big  game  no 
such  excuse  can  be  offered:  it  was  in  a  great  measure 
simply  senseless,  brutal  killing  for  the  sake  of  killing. 

My  first  impressions  of  the  city  and  Salt  Lake  Val 
ley,  with  Great  Salt  Lake  lying  blue  in  the  distance,  were 
very  pleasing,  and  a  closer  inspection  did  not  change 
them.  The  city  was  beautifully  laid  out,  and  the 
houses  were  generally  of  a  character  to  indicate  com 
fort,  and  often  wealth  and  refinement.  The  water  from 
a  rushing  mountain  stream  had  been  introduced,  and, 
besides  answering  for  household  purposes,  it  ran 
through  the  gutters  on  both  sides  of  the  principal 
streets,  thus  insuring  cleanliness  and  good  sewerage. 
Many  of  the  houses  had  gardens  about  them  filled  with 
vegetables,  and  the  most  delicious  small  fruits.  The 
residences  of  Brigham  Young — he  had  two — were 
beautifully  constructed  and  surrounded  by  elaborate 
flower  gardens,  which  were  kept  in  the  most  perfect 
order. 

I  made  my  home  while  in  the  city  with  the  family 
28 


A   Surprising   Shot 

of  Mr.  Hooper,  who  was  a  Mormon,  though  not  a 
polygamist.  They,  as  well  as  the  people  generally 
whom  I  met,  were  kindly  and  courteous,  and  did  all 
in  their  power  to  make  my  stay  among  them  agree 
able.  Mrs.  Hooper  was  worried  for  fear  that  I  might 
be  converted  to  Mormonism  without  the  knowledge 
or  consent  of  my  parents,  but  I  assured  her  that  I  felt 
myself  strong  enough  to  stand  any  amount  of  tempta 
tion  in  that  line,  and  that  I  really  was  not  in  the  least 
danger. 

I  had  command  of  plenty  of  horses,  and  amused 
myself  by  making  excursions  to  Camp  Floyd,  or  Salt 
Lake,  or  other  attractive  places.  Frequently  I  went 
to  the  country  for  a  day's  shooting,  and  as  game  of 
all  kinds  was  plentiful  I  made  very  good  bags.  One 
day,  when  I  had  wandered  rather  too  far  into  the  thick 
woods  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  I  had  an  exciting 
experience.  I  had  dismounted  from  my  horse  and  was 
advancing  slowly  and  quietly  through  the  thick  cover, 
which  was  so  dense  that  the  sunlight  was  almost  shut 
out,  when  I  saw  some  distance  ahead  of  me  a  curious 
black  object.  After  watching  it  for  some  time  with 
out  being  able  to  make  out  what  it  was  I  gave  it  one 
load  of  No.  4  shot  to  see  what  would  happen.  I 
was  thoroughly  surprised  at  the  result.  It  proved  to 
be  a  Digger  Indian,  with  a  large  black  felt  hat  on 
his  head,  digging  roots.  As  he  straightened  himself 
up  he  seemed  to  me  ten  feet  tall,  and  I  lost  no  time  in 
mounting  my  pony;  neither  did  he  in  mounting  his. 
There  was  no  time  to  explain  matters,  and  I  bolted 
down  the  mountain  road  with  the  Digger  in  hot  chase. 
He  occasionally  sent  an  arrow  over  me,  and  generally 

29 


A  Sailor's  Log 

behaved  in  a  way  to  hasten  me  into  town  in  the  short 
est  possible  time.  As  I  reached  the  front  gate  of  Mr. 
Hooper's  house  the  Indian  pulled  up  about  three  hun 
dred  yards  away  and  sat  on  his  pony,  waiting  appar 
ently  to  see  what  would  happen  next.  He  only 
waited  a  few  seconds  when  I  appeared  with  my  Colt's 
rifle,  and  then  we  had  a  spirited  race  for  the  moun 
tains,  only  in  this  case  I  was  the  pursuer,  and  I  surely 
put  him  to  his  best  speed  to  escape.  I  was  more  care 
ful  after  that  how  I  shot  at  things  until  I  could  make 
out  what  they  were. 

As  a  rule,  the  city  was  orderly  and  peaceful.  At 
times  the  Indians  would  come  in  in  considerable  num 
bers,  and,  having  filled  up  with  whisky,  would  proceed 
to  make  themselves  disagreeable  by  shooting  arrows 
at  people,  and  misbehaving  in  other  ways.  When 
they  got  too  bad,  word  would  be  sent  out  to 
Camp  Floyd,  and  the  soldiers  would  come  in  and  run 
them  out  of  town — generally  killing  a  few.  On  one 
of  these  occasions  I  was  sitting  on  the  front  porch 
reading  a  newspaper,  when  suddenly  an  arrow  drove 
into  the  weather-boarding  very  close  to  me,  and  before 
I  could  move,  a  second  one  came  and  caught  me  in  the 
shin  bone.  My  double-barrelled  shotgun  was  in  the 
hall  near  by,  and  as  I  came  out  with  it  I  discovered  a 
half-drunken  Digger  standing  in  the  middle  of  the 
street,  laughing  at  the  joke  he  had  perpetrated  on  me. 
I  don't  think  he  enjoyed  the  rest  of  the  afternoon 
much,  as  the  men  in  the  drug  store  at  the  corner  had 
him  laid  on  his  back  while  they  picked  shot  out  of  him 
until  after  dark.  The  next  time  I  saw  my  friend  he 
looked  as  if  he  had  had  the  smallpox.  I  presented  him 

30 


Brigham   Young 

with  five  pounds  of  brown  sugar,  and  watched  with 
interest  while  he  sat  on  the  pavement  and  ate  the 
whole  of  it. 

As  I  was  to  represent  Utah  in  the  navy,  I  felt  it 
my  duty  to  call  on  Mr.  Young,  and  at  the  same  time 
I  hesitated  to  do  so,  because  a  pony-express  horse, 
which  I  had  borrowed  for  a  ride  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
had  run  away  with  me,  and  before  I  could  stop  him 
had  seriously  damaged  some  beautiful  flower  beds  in 
Mr.  Young's  yard.  However,  I  did  call,  and  found  the 
Mormon  leader  a  rugged,  hard-looking  man,  but 
withal  kindly  in  his  manner  and  good  enough  to  wish 
me  success  in  the  profession  I  had  selected.  Without 
entering  into  the  question  of  how  far  he  was  right 
in  what  he  had  done  and  was  then  doing — questions 
now  forever  settled  by  the  laws  of  the  land — we  must 
admit  that  Mr.  Young  was  a  man  of  wonderful  ability 
and  a  natural  leader  of  men.  Otherwise  he  could  never 
have  led  his  people  through  the  tremendous  difficulties 
they  encountered,  and  then  made  of  the  desert  a  flow 
ering  garden. 

When  I  had  been  sufficiently  long  in  Utah  to  claim 
residence  I  began  preparations  for  my  return  journey. 
The  call  of  the  sea  was  strong  upon  me,  and  I  could 
not  resist  it  even  had  I  wished  to  do  so,  which  I  cer 
tainly  did  not.  The  sea  and  the  ships  were  constantly 
in  my  mind,  and  I  was  anxious  to  begin.  I  secured  a 
seat  on  the  overland  coach  and  left  for  the  East  about 
the  middle  of  July,  1860. 

We  had  a  pleasant  trip,  all  things  considered.  Rid 
ing  on  top  of  a  coach  is  well  enough  in  the  daytime, 
but  not  so  pleasant  at  night.  I  was  small  for  my  age, 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  soon  found  a  way  of  stowing  myself  so  that  I  could 
sleep  with  a  fair  amount  of  comfort.  But  when  it 
rained,  which  it  often  did  at  night,  I  was  most  uncom 
fortable.  The  choice  was  between  getting  wet  or  be 
ing  smothered  under  blankets — and  I  generally  got 
wet.  The  coach  stations  were  reasonably  close  to  each 
other,  and  we  made  good  speed  all  the  way.  As  soon 
as  we  arrived  at  one  of  these  stations  all  hands  went 
for  food — generally  very  poor — and  when  that  was 
finished,  six  wild,  kicking,  bucking  mules  were  hitched 
up,  and  away  we  went  at  a  full  run.  The  drivers  were 
experts  in  their  line,  and  the  mules  usually  ran  four 
or  five  miles  before  they  were  pulled  down  to  their 
regular  paces.  After  that,  woe  to  the  unfortunate 
mule  that  tried  to  shirk  his  fair  share  of  the  work! 

The  party  was  well  armed  and  thoroughly  able  to 
stand  off  any  small  band  of  Indians;  but  the  red  men 
as  a  rule  seemed  to  fancy  the  emigrant  trains  rather 
than  the  coaches,  and  we  escaped  without  serious 
molestation.  During  the  time  we  were  on  the  South 
Platte  we  had  one  or  two  very  severe  hailstorms, 
which  for  a  time  threatened  to  destroy  the  whole  out 
fit.  When  they  struck  us,  usually  accompanied  by  a 
hard  gale  of  wind,  the  mules  backed  up  under  the  lee 
of  the  coach,  and  no  amount  of  beating  would  induce 
them  to  move  until  the  storm  had  passed;  then  they 
would  go  on  as  cheerfully  as  before,  the  driver  launch 
ing  at  them  such  a  volley  of  oaths  and  abuse  as  could 
come  only  from  the  driver  of  an  overland  coach.  No 
other  human  being  could  match  him.  The  passengers 
during  these  storms  found  shelter  as  they  could,  either 
in  or  under  the  coach,  or  among  the  mules.  At  times 

32 


A   Prairie   Storm 

the  hail  covered  the  prairies  as  far  as  one  could  see  to 
a  depth  of  two  or  three  inches.  Some  of  the  hail 
stones  were  large  enough  to  disable  a  man  if  they 
struck  him  on  the  head. 

While  we  were  resting  at  Mayersville,  Kansas,  we 
experienced  a  wind  storm  which  lingers  in  my  mind, 
although  I  have  since  seen  storms  of  about  all  kinds 
and  sizes.  It  came  up  very  suddenly,  and  we  at  first 
took  refuge  in  a  long,  narrow  frame  building  used 
as  a  storehouse.  The  wind  struck  this  house  end  on 
and  soon  lifted  one  end  a  foot  or  so  from  the  ground. 
We  then  retreated  behind  a  stone  wall,  but  the  stones 
began  to  fly  from  the  top,  and  we  concluded  to  follow 
the  example  of  some  of  the  natives  and  go  out  on  the 
open  prairie,  lie  down  flat  on  our  faces,  head  to  wind, 
and  hold  on  to  the  grass  as  best  we  could.  In  this 
position  each  one  soon  had  a  considerable  sand  shoal 
about  him.  There  were  several  emigrant  trains  and  a 
band  of  Indians  camped  on  the  prairie,  and  these  were 
soon  off  before  the  wind  as  fast  as  they  could  go.  The 
"  prairie  schooners,"  as  the  wagons  were  called,  would 
run  some  distance  before  the  wind,  and  then,  as 
they  got  canted  one  way  or  the  other,  would  cap 
size  and  spill  out  women  and  children  and  whatever 
else  happened  to  be  in  them.  The  last  we  saw  of  the 
Indians,  as  they  disappeared  in  the  clouds  of  sand  and 
gravel,  the  men  were  riding  their  ponies,  shouting  and 
yelling,  and  the  squaws  doing  what  they  could  to  save 
their  belongings.  A  few  days  after  this  we  crossed  the 
Missouri  River,  I  found  myself  again  in  civilization, 
and  I  was  soon  on  a  train  bound  for  Washington, 
where  I  arrived  late  in  August. 

33 


A  Sailor  s  Log 

On  September  I5th  I  went  to  Annapolis,  passed  my 
examination,  and,  after  a  few  days'  leave,  reported  Sep 
tember  2Oth  on  board  the  frigate  Constitution  as  an 
acting  midshipman. 

I  have  so  far  picked  the  oakum,  now  let  me  spin 
my  yarn  of  forty  years  of  naval  life. 


34 


CHAPTER  IV 

A    CADET   AT   ANNAPOLIS 

I  PASSED  my  entrance  examination  to  the  Naval 
Academy  September  15,  1860,  and  reported,  as  an  act 
ing  midshipman,  as  I  have  before  stated,  on  board  the 
frigate  Constitution — "  Old  Ironsides  " — on  the  2Oth 
of  the  same  month.  The  examination,  fortunately  for 
many  of  us,  was  a  very  simple  one;  nothing  like  the 
elaborate  and  trying  affair  of  to-day,  otherwise  many 
of  us  would  not  have  followed  the  navy  as  a  profession. 
The  candidate  had  to  be  sound  physically,  and  have  a 
fair  foundation  on  which  to  build  the  education  re 
quired  of  a  sea  officer,  who  was  not  in  that  day  ex 
pected  to  be  an  engineer,  a  chemist,  a  scientist,  an  elec 
trician,  a  lawyer,  an  artist,  etc.,  as  is  the  case  to-day — 
only  a  seaman  and  a  gunner,  with  the  necessary  knowl 
edge  of  things  that  pertained  to  the  sea.  The  super 
intendent,  Captain  George  S.  Blake,  was  assisted  by 
half  a  dozen  officers,  selected  for  their  fitness,  and  as 
many  civil  professors.  Among  the  officers  were  two 
brothers,  C.  R.  P.  and  George  Rodgers,  lieutenants, 
both  of  whom  made  their  mark  on  the  service,  and 
wrote  their  names  high  up  on  the  history  of  the  navy 
which  they  loved  so  well  and  did  so  much  to  honour. 
We  have  never  had  two  officers  whose  standard  of 

35 


A  Sailor's  Log 


honour  and  duty  was  higher  or  whose  conduct  re 
flected  greater  credit  on  the  country  than  that  of  those 
two.  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers  was  commandant  of  midship 
men  and  George  Rodgers  was  captain  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and  to  them  I  owe  everything  in  my  profes 
sional  life. 

We  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  men  in  the 
class  when  we  settled  down  to  work,  an  average  lot, 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  representing  the 
various  classes  of  American  life — North,  South,  East, 
and  West.  I  was  the  only  one  from  Utah,  and  I  be 
lieve  the  first  one  ever  appointed  from  that  Territory 
either  in  the  navy  or  the  army.  Our  life  on  board  ship 
was  pleasant  and  novel,  and  our  education  on  the  lines 
that  would  fit  us  for  the  duties  we  would  in  the  future 
have  to  perform.  English  studies  occupied  a  consid 
erable  part  of  our  time,  but  practical  seamanship  and 
gunnery  were  considered  the  important  things,  and 
they  were  hammered  into  us  so  hard  by  our  honoured 
captain  that  we  had  to  learn  them  in  spite  of  ourselves. 
Many  showed  wonderful  cleverness,  and  after  a  few 
months  the  class  standing  in  seamanship  placed  the 
men  about  as  they  have  since  stood  in  the  service. 

The  Constitution  was  moored  at  the  end  of  a 
long,  narrow  wharf,  which  was  the  only  means  of 
approach  unless  by  boat,  so  that  the  class  was  com 
pletely  isolated  from  the  older  classes.  We  never 
came  in  contact  with  them  except  when  on  shore  for 
drill,  or  on  Saturday,  when  we  passed  their  quarters  on 
our  way  to  the  town  on  liberty.  All  our  recitations 
and  most  of  our  drills  took  place  on  board  ship.  Un 
der  such  conditions  the  disgraceful  hazing,  which  later 

36 


Hazing   at   Annapolis 

on  gave  the  Naval  Academy  such  a  bad  name,  was 
impossible,  even  had  the  temper  of  the  midshipmen 
been  such  as  to  tolerate  it.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing  hazing  was  absolutely  unknown,  and  I  am  sure 
that  any  attempt  to  practise  it  would  have  led  to  a 
duel  behind  old  Fort  Severn.  It  was  not  until  we 
reached  Newport,  and  the  senior  classes  had  been  or 
dered  into  service,  that  this  brutal,  and  I  must  say 
cowardly,  practice  took  root  and  grew  until  it  was  a 
disgrace  to  all  those  engaged  in  it.  By  some  means 
the  classes  entering  after  1862  got  the  idea  from  West 
Point,  and  in  their  zeal  to  emulate  really  went  far  be 
yond  the  practices  of  that  excellent  institution,  where 
hazing  of  a  certain  kind  was  a  tradition,  and  consid 
ered  necessary  to  the  discipline  of  the  cadets  among 
themselves.  With  us  the  proper  class  distinctions  and 
respect  were  traditions  which  did  not  require  hazing 
to  enforce  them.  I  remember  very  well,  one  Saturday 
afternoon,  two  of  us,  both  very  small,  were  passing 
the  quarters  of  the  first  class  on  our  way  to  town  on 
liberty,  when  two  seniors  thought  it  would  be  good 
fun  to  put  us  down  on  the  grass  and  sit  on  us.  They 
promptly  carried  out  their  plan,  and  sat  on  us  five 
minutes  or  so  and  then  let  us  go.  We  returned  to  the 
ship  mad  all  over,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  swarmed 
back  with  most  of  our  class,  and  there  was  a  beautiful 
fight  which  resulted  in  many  black  eyes  and  the  de 
struction  of  much  furniture  in  the  first-class  quarters. 
This  was  about  the  nearest  approach  to  hazing  we 
ever  had. 

The  discipline  was  strict  on  board  ship  from  the 
start,  and  we  were  expected  to  observe  the  regulations 

37 

4 


A  Sailor's  Log 

as  soon  as  they  had  been  made  clear  to  us.  I  had 
formed  a  warm  friendship  for  a  young  fellow  from  Mis 
sissippi  named  Baldwin,  and  he  somehow  became  in 
volved  in  a  quarrel  with  a  man  twice  his  size;  the 
quarrel  soon  led  to  a  fight,  and  the  large  man  at 
tempted  to  strike  Baldwin  with  a  camp  stool,  when  I 
grabbed  him  from  behind,  preventing  the  blow,  and 
thus  myself  became  part  of  the  row.  The  next  morn 
ing  I  was  sent  for  on  the  quarter-deck,  and,  after  hav 
ing  the  Articles  of  War  read  to  me  and  receiving  a 
long  lecture  on  the  enormity  of  my  offence,  was  locked 
up  in  a  dark  room  in  the  wardroom.  Some  one  had 
reported  that  Baldwin  had  a  knife  in  his  hand  during 
the  fight,  and  that  I  called  out  to  him  to  use  it  and 
that  I  would  help  him.  After  being  locked  up  I  made 
up  my  mind  that  my  time  had  come,  in  view  of  the 
many  offences  mentioned  in  the  Articles  of  War  for 
which  the  punishment  was  "  death  or  such  other  pun 
ishment  as  a  court  martial  may  inflict."  I  wrote  a 
hurried  note  to  my  uncle  in  Washington  to  come  at 
once  if  he  wished  to  see  me  alive,  as  I  was  sure  that  I 
was  soon  to  be  hanged  at  the  yardarm.  He  answered 
that  discipline  was  good  for  me,  and  that  he  would 
wait  a  few  days,  or  until  sentence  was  pronounced. 
After  three  days'  confinement  I  was  sent  for  by  the 
commanding  officer,  and  told  him  exactly  how  I  be 
came  involved  in  the  fight,  when  I  was  at  once  sent 
to  duty,  and  some  one  else  took  my  dark  room. 

On  board  ship  we  had  our  hammocks  to  sleep  in 
instead  of  bunks,  and  our  messing  was  regulated  just 
as  it  would  have  been  on  a  cruising  vessel.  In  fact, 
we  lived  under  service  conditions;  and  while  it  is  now 

38 


A   Time   of  Anxiety 

the  fashion  to  decry  such  training  in  favour  of  bar 
racks  on  shore,  I  have  yet  to  be  convinced  that  for 
the  conditions  then  existing  it  was  not  the  best. 
Many  officers  of  that  school  have  achieved  great  suc 
cess  both  afloat  and  ashore,  and  have  certainly  met  all 
the  requirements  of  the  service  as  fully  as  those  of  the 
new  school  can  ever  meet  the  requirements  that  will 
face  them.  Our  first  impressions  of  the  service  were 
received  on  board  ship,  and  the  discomforts  of  ship  life 
were  met  and  overcome  in  a  way  that  made  such  dis 
comforts  and  even  much  greater  ones  seem  very  trivial 
afterward.  We  grew  into  ship  life  gradually  and  natu 
rally,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  ship  and  all  her  parts 
was  complete;  such  knowledge  can  be  acquired  in  no 
other  way,  and  while  many  able  officers  hold  that  this 
is  not  a  matter  of  importance  on  this  point,  I  have 
also  still  to  be  convinced  of  the  soundness  of  their 
reasoning. 

During  the  winter  of  i86o-'6i  the  anxious  faces 
of  our  officers  foretold  the  storm  of  war  that  broke 
so  suddenly  in  April  of  the  latter  year.  It  was  a  time 
of  great  suspense  for  all  hands;  naturally  the  greatest 
strain  came  on  those  in  authority,  but  the  midshipmen 
had  their  loads  to  bear  as  well.  Many  of  us  came  from 
the  South,  and  as  the  States  one  after  another  either 
seceded  or  threatened  to  do  so,  we  had  to  make  up 
our  minds  what  we  were  going  to  do.  Conferences 
were  frequent  and  serious,  but  never  in  one  of  them 
was  there  a  disloyal  word  uttered.  Every  man  fol 
lowed  the  example  set  by  the  Southern  men  among 
the  officers.  So  long  as  we  were  inside  the  academy 
limits,  or  until  our  resignations  were  accepted,  we  were 

39 


A  Sailor's  Log 

officers  of  the  navy  and  would  behave  as  such.  Lieu 
tenant  Hunter  Davidson,  afterward  the  torpedo  expert 
of  the  Confederacy,  was  probably  more  responsible  for 
this  position  than  any  other  man,  though  both  C.  R.  P. 
and  George  Rodgers  were  constantly  giving  us  good 
advice. 

During  the  month  of  April,  1861,  our  studies 
were  practically  suspended,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  defend  the  academy  and  the  ship  Constitu 
tion  in  case  of  attack.  Drills  were  constant,  and  every 
precaution  taken  to  give  the  enemy  a  warm  reception 
in  case  he  came.  A  Confederate  cavalry  company 
was  organized  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Severn  River, 
and  for  several  days  they  drilled  in  plain  sight  of  the 
ship;  but  when  a  few  boats  were  sent  after  them  they 
disappeared,  and  the  next  soldiers  we  saw  wore  blue 
uniforms.  We  had  been  told  that  the  Confederates 
in  Baltimore  had  organized  an  expedition  and  were 
coming  down  in  steamers  to  capture  us.  A  bright 
lookout  was  kept  for  them,  and  one  dark  night, 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  lookout  re 
ported  a  large  steamer  coming  in  from  the  bay.  Gen 
eral  quarters  were  sounded,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we 
were  ready;  and  there  we  stood  waiting  for  the  word 
to  fire.  The  cabin  bulkheads  had  all  been  taken  down, 
and  four  thirty-two  pounders  run  out  the  cabin  stern 
ports  and  loaded  with  grape  and  canister. 

The  steamer  slowly  came  on  until  she  could  be 
plainly  seen  with  the  naked  eye  moving  up  directly 
astern  of  us,  as  if  to  avoid  our  broadside  and  carry  us 
by  boarding.  Captain  Rodgers's  clear  voice  rang  out: 
"  Ship  ahoy!  What  ship  is  that?  "  The  gun  captains 

40 


A   Narrow   Escape 

had  the  guns  trained  on  the  mass  of  men  we  could  now 
see  crowded  about  the  decks  and  not  more  than  three 
hundred  yards  away.  Twice  more  the  clear  voice  rang 
out:  "Ship  ahoy!  keep  off,  or  I  will  sink  you!"  and 
then  a  voice  we  all  recognised  answered:  "  For  God's 
sake,  don't  fire!  We  are  friends!"  It  was  the  voice 
of  our  chaplain,  who  had  been  North  on  a  short  leave, 
and  on  his  return  found  Colonel  B.  F.  Butler  and  the 
Eighth  Massachusetts  Regiment  at  Havre  de  Grace, 
Maryland,  blocked  in  their  effort  to  reach  Wash 
ington. 

Colonel  Butler  had  seized  the  ferry  steamer  Mary 
land,  and,  embarking  his  regiment  on  board  of  her, 
sailed  for  Annapolis,  fortunately  bringing  with  him 
our  chaplain — I  say  fortunately,  because  he  seemed 
the  only  one  on  board  who  knew  enough  to  answer 
the  hail  from  the  Constitution,  and  in  a  few  seconds 
more  we  should  have  opened  fire,  and  no  one  can 
doubt  what  the  result  would  have  been.  The  splen 
did  record  of  this  fine  regiment  would  never  have  been 
written;  it  would  have  ended  there  and  then,  and 
what  one  may  fairly  call  the  variegated  career  of  Gen 
eral  Benjamin  F.  Butler  would  have  been  very  short 
and  inglorious. 

As  soon  as  the  character  of  the  strange  craft  was 
satisfactorily  established,  she  was  directed  to  haul  up 
alongside  of  us,  which  she  did,  and  remained  there 
until  daylight,  when  the  midshipmen  were  landed  un 
der  arms,  formed  with  those  on  shore  and  marched  to 
the  wall  in  the  vicinity  of  the  gate  leading  to  the  town 
of  Annapolis,  and  there  deployed  in  line  of  battle  to 
cover  the  landing  of  the  Eighth  Massachusetts.  We 


A  Sailor's  Log 

•      / 

stood  in  this  position  until  the  last  soldier  was  ashore 
and  the  regiment  had  formed  line  in  rear  of  the  mid 
shipmen's  quarters  and  stacked  their  arms,  when  sen 
tries  from  our  battalion  were  posted  and  the  rest  of 
us  returned  to  our  quarters.  Not  a  shot  had  been 
fired  by  either  side,  though  the  excitement  was  in 
tense,  and  there  was  a  readiness  on  both  sides  to  fight. 
Both  parties  hesitated  to  fire  the  first  shot,  and  the 
Confederates  contented  themselves  with  pitching 
stones  over  the  wall,  which  we  caught  and  tossed  back. 
The  newspapers  gave  graphic  accounts  of  how  Butler 
and  his  men  had  recaptured  the  Constitution  and  the 
Naval  Academy!  They  never  fired  a  shot  nor  saw  a 
rebel  to  shoot  at.  The  magazines  of  the  Constitution 
were  mined,  and  she  and  her  crew  would  have  been 
blown  to  atoms  before  surrendering  if  the  rebels  had 
attacked  her. 

Everything  was  now  made  ready  as  soon  as  pos 
sible,  and  the  ship  hauled  out  into  the  bay  and  pre 
pared  to  transport  us  to  some  Northern  .port.  The 
midshipmen  on  shore  gave  up  their  quarters  to  the 
officers  of  the  Seventh  New  York  Infantry  and  the  First 
Rhode  Island  Artillery  under  Colonel  Burnside,  these 
regiments  having  arrived  immediately  after  the  Eighth 
Massachusetts.  Our  routine  was  entirely  broken  up, 
and  our  time  given  to  guard  and  picket  duty,  until  all 
preparations  had  been  made  for  our  trip  North,  when 
orders  were  given  to  assemble  ready  for  embarkation. 
Then  followed  a  scene  which  those  who  participated  in 
it  can  never  forget  or  recall  without  a  tendency  to 
moist  eyes.  The  good  fellows  from  the  South  who 
had  determined  to  go  with  their  States  said  good-bye 

42 


On   the   Constitution 

to  their  classmates,  and  as  the  rest  of  us  formed  ranks 
to  embark,  Captain  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers  stepped  out  to 
say  a  few  words  to  us  before  leaving  the  dear  old 
Alma  Mater.  After  a  strong  effort  he  managed  to  say, 
"  My  boys,  stand  by  the  old  flag!"  and  then  broke 
down.  We  were  all  in  tears,  and  only  braced  up  when 
we  heard  the  men  of  the  Seventh  New  York  cheering 
us,  which  we  returned  in  a  feeble  sort  of  way — scram 
bled  into  the  boats,  and  two  hours  later  were  once 
more  on  board  "  Old  Ironsides."  That  was  the  last 
we  saw  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis  until  after 
the  civil  war  had  done  its  work.  The  army  took  pos 
session,  repaired  the  railroad  and  locomotives,  and 
after  a  month  or  so  of  hard  work  reopened  communi 
cation  with  Washington. 

The  Constitution  was  towed  to  New  York,  from 
there  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  where  she  was  an 
chored  in  Brinton's  Cove,  off  Fort  Adams,  and  all  the 
senior  classes  were  ordered  into  active  service.  My 
class,  now  about  seventy  strong,  was  the  only  one 
left,  and  we  were  anxious,  of  course,  to  join  the 
others;  but  we  had  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced  to 
make  us  of  much  value.  Once  more  we  settled  down 
to  routine  and  hard  work.  Fort  Adams  was  unoccu 
pied,  so  we  were  transferred  there,  where  we  could 
have  roomy  quarters  and  convenient  recitation  rooms, 
and  at  the  same  time  man  the  guns  in  case  of  need. 
It  was  all  a  lark  to  most  of  us,  and  the  time  given  to 
study  did  not  amount  to  much.  The  officers  soon 
found  that,  if  we  were  to  do  any  serious  work,  proper 
quarters  would  have  to  be  provided;  and  as  the  idea 
of  a  return  to  Annapolis  was  abandoned,  the  Atlantic 

43 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Hotel,  in  the  heart  of  Newport,  was  secured  on  long 
lease,  duly  fitted  for  our  accommodation,  and  there  we 
were  marched,  bag  and  baggage. 

In  the  meantime,  steps  were  taken  to  quarter  the 
new  class,  a  very  large  one,  which  had  been  appointed. 
The  Constitution  and  the  Santee,  which  had  been  sent 
North  for  the  purpose,  had  been  moored  at  suitable 
docks  built  on  the  inside  of  Goat  Island  in  the  inner 
harbour,  and  the  sloops  of  war  John  Adams  and  Marion 
were  anchored  near  them,  to  be  used  for  practical  sea 
manship  and  gunnery  drills  afloat.  This  made  the  most 
complete  outfit  in  ships  the  Naval  Academy  had  ever 
seen  and  the  most  useful. 

That  master  of  his  trade,  Stephen  B.  Luce,  had 
charge  of  drills  afloat,  and  scarcely  a  day  passed  that 
we  were  not  under  his  watchful  eyes  at  some  sort  of 
practical  seamanship.  Every  Saturday  we  went  out 
side  in  one  or  other  or  both  of  the  ships,  and  then  the 
work  was  most  thorough  and  complete,  each  midship 
man  in  turn  taking  charge  of  the  deck  for  different 
evolutions.  On  our  way  in,  in  the  afternoon,  we  could 
generally  tell  when  our  work  had  been  satisfactory; 
if  it  had  not  been,  the  ship  was  sure  to  fetch  up 
hard  and  fast  before  we  reached  our  anchorage,  an 
chors  carried  out,  and  the  vessel  hove  off,  properly 
berthed  and  everything  made  snug  and  shipshape, 
before  we  could  leave  her.  For  all  this  work  we  had 
only  midshipmen — no  man  to  help  us.  Everything 
must  be  done  with  our  own  hands,  and  thus  we 
learned,  and  learned  thoroughly,  what  a  man  had  to 
do  in  every  position  on  board  a  sailing  ship,  from  pass 
ing  a  close  reef  to  sweeping  down  the  quarter-deck. 

44 


Loss   of  Discipline 

We  learned  how  to  do  it  ourselves,  and  how  to  make 
others  do  it  under  our  instruction,  and  many  of  us  still 
cling  to  the  notion  that  there  could  not  have  been 
better  training.  If  the  weather  happened  to  be  such 
that  we  could  not  get  under  way,  we  sent  down  yards, 
masts,  and  rigging,  and  proceeded  to  refit  everything. 
Before  the  year  was  out  there  were  very  few  in  the 
class  who  could  not,  with  their  own  hands,  do  any 
job  of  work  required  of  a  petty  officer  or  seaman. 

The  quartering  of  the  senior  class  on  shore  and  all 
the  others  on  board  ship  had  a  very  bad  effect,  and 
it  was  years  before  the  academy  recovered  its  normal 
condition.  All  the  traditions  of  the  school,  the  dis 
cipline  among  the  classes  themselves — which  was,  and 
always  must  be,  dependent  on  traditions  and  customs 
— were  lost  sight  of,  and,  as  I  have  before  said,  hazing 
took  root  on  board  the  Constitution  and  Santee.  It 
took  twenty  years  to  break  up  this  unnaval  practice, 
and  even  now  it  occasionally  shows  its  ugly  head, 
generally  with  the  result  that  some  promising  young 
ster  has  to  be  dismissed  and  thus  lost  to  the  service. 


45 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR 

As  soon  as  war  was  an  assured  thing,  my  family 
demanded  that  I  should  resign,  come  South  and  fight 
for  my  State;  but  it  did  not  seem  to  me  that  this 
course  was  imperative.  My  next  younger  brother  en 
listed  at  the  age  of  fourteen  in  the  Washington  Artil 
lery,  and  went  to  the  front  under  Pelham;  so  that 
there  was  one  member  of  the  family  on  each  side, 
which  was  a  fair  division  if  he  saw  his  duty  in  that 
way.  I  was  much  assisted  in  these  dark  and  trying 
days  by  the  advice  of  Captain  Rodgers,  who  pointed 
out  to  me  very  clearly  what  my  duty  was.  I  con 
cluded  to  stick  by  "  The  Old  Flag,"  and  let  my  family 
ties  look  after  themselves,  and  so  informed  my  mother, 
who  was  much  grieved  and  shamed  by  my  determina 
tion.  She  finally  wrote  my  resignation,  sent  it  to  the 
Navy  Department,  where  it  was  accepted,  and  with 
out  previous  warning  I  found  myself  out  of  the  serv 
ice,  despite  my  determination  to  stay  in. 

What  to  do  under  such  conditions  was  a  serious 
question  to  me,  and  I  was  again  assisted  to  the  right 
course  by  Captain  Rodgers,  who  telegraphed  to  Wash 
ington,  explaining  matters.  I  was  out  only  about 
twenty-four  hours,  but  they  were  very  unhappy  ones 


A  Divided    Family 

for  me,  and  I  was  relieved  when  my  reappointment  came 
by  wire.  My  mother,  thinking  she  had  finally  disposed 
of  the  matter,  went  to  Richmond  to  nurse  my  brother, 
who  had  been  badly  wounded,  and  there  waited  for  me 
to  join  her.  She  was  naturally  much  disappointed  at 
the  result  of  her  efforts,  and  wrote  me  a  very  severe 
letter,  which  she  sent  through  the  lines  by  a  blockade 
runner,  who  mailed  it.  When  it  came  to  me  it  showed 
no  signs  of  having  been  opened,  but  I  found  that  it 
had,  and  many  parts  of  it  underlined  with  blue  pencil. 
Many  of  my  letters  during  the  war  mailed  in  the  same 
way  had  been  similarly  treated,  showing  that  in  my 
case  at  least  the  post-office  officials  had  their  eyes 
on  me. 

My  brother  fought  gallantly,  was  twice  wounded, 
and  served  to  the  end  of  the  war.  As  soon  as  he  could 
make  his  way  North  he  came,  and  never  showed  any 
bitterness  over  my  course.  The  other  members  of  my 
family  did  not  behave  in  quite  the  same  way,  but  after 
some  years  my  mother  changed  her  views,  and  fully 
forgave  me  before  she  died. 

In  June,  1862,  we  started  on  our  first  real  practice 
cruise,  using  for  the  purpose  the  sloop  of  war  John 
Adams.  We  were  crowded  into  her  like  sardines  in 
a  box,  and  had  no  end  of  hard  work,  with  whatever 
we  could  find  to  eat,  and  all  in  all  about  as  little  com 
fort  as  a  set  of  youngsters  ever  experienced;  but  we 
made  great  headway  in  learning  our  business  as  sea 
men.  The  ship  was  uncomfortable,  as  all  her  class 
were,  but  at  the  same  time  seaworthy  and  safe.  She 
would  run  well  when  off  the  wind,  but  with  everything 
braced  sharp  up  when  there  was  any  sea  on  she  would 

47 


A  Sailor's  Log 

butt  three  times  at  a  sea  and  then  go  round  it.  Be 
fore  the  wind  she  rolled  so  that  all  hands  had  trouble 
in  sleeping  at  night;  but  with  all  her  defects  she  car 
ried  us  safely  as  far  south  as  Port  Royal,  South  Caro 
lina,  and  brought  us  safely  back  to  Newport. 

On  our  way  South  we  stopped  a  few  days  at  Hamp 
ton  Roads  and  Yorktown,  where  we  had  a  chance  to  see 
the  effects  of  the  war.  At  Yorktown,  particularly,  we 
were  much  interested.  The  rebel  General  Magruder 
had  just  evacuated  the  place,  and  was  retreating  up 
the  peninsula,  closely  followed  by  the  army  under  Gen 
eral  George  B.  McClellan.  The  wells  had  all  been 
poisoned,  and  the  roads  in  many  places  mined  and 
torpedoes  planted,  so  that  we  had  to  be  very  careful 
where  we  went  and  what  we  did.  However,  midship 
men  are  notoriously  hard  to  kill,  and  with  the  assist 
ance  of  the  cavalry  escort  which  was  kindly  furnished 
us,  we  managed  to  escape  without  damage  except  by 
falls  from  the  cavalry  horses,  which  all  hands  seemed 
determined  to  ride.  Horseback  riding  was  not  a 
novelty  to  me,  and  I  contented  myself  with  going  as 
quietly  as  I  could  in  a  wagon. 

At  Port  Royal  we  saw  Admiral  Dupont's  splendid 
fleet,  comprising  many  of  the  finest  ships  in  the  navy, 
fresh  from  their  encounter  with  and  complete  victory 
over  the  rebel  forts.  Among  them  all,  the  Wabash 
seemed  to  me  the  most  perfect;  she  flew  the  admiral's 
flag,  and  on  board  of  her  I  had  the  pleasure  of  again 
meeting  Captain  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers,  who  was  fleet  cap 
tain  to  Admiral  Dupont. 

I  shall  always  remember  an  incident  of  my  visit  to 
this  ship.  As  we  went  over  the  side,  a  large  black 

48 


A   Middy's    Experience 

bear  stood  on  his  hind  legs  at  the  gangway,  among 
the  side  boys,  hat  in  hand,  and  saluting  each  officer 
as  he  went  on  board.  I  saw  him  as  I  came  up  the 
side,  and  not  proposing  to  give  him  a  chance  at  me, 
jumped  for  the  main  chains  and  went  over  that  way, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  officers.  A  short  time 
after  this  his  bearship  came  to  grief,  and  had  to  be 
sent  on  shore.  He  was  very  fond  of  alcohol,  and,  hav 
ing  filled  up  and  become  ugly,  turned  into  the  bunk  of 
one  of  the  lieutenants,  who,  finding  his  bed  occu 
pied,  turned  in  somewhere  else  until  his  time  came  for 
duty.  The  quartermaster  being  sent  down  during  the 
night  to  call  the  lieutenant,  and  getting  no  answer, 
undertook  to  awake  him  by  shaking  him,  which  so  en 
raged  the  bear,  in  his  half-drunken  condition,  that  he 
bit  the  quartermaster  so  badly  that  he  lost  one  of 
his  legs. 

During  this  cruise  the  midshipmen  were  stationed 
as  a  crew  for  the  vessel,  and  did  all  the  work  of  the 
different  ratings.  When  off  Hatteras  on  our  way 
North  our  efficiency  was  thoroughly  tested.  At 
about  ten  o'clock  the  ship  was  struck  by  a  sudden 
heavy  squall,  accompanied  by  rain  and  hail.  All  hands 
were  called  to  reef  topsails,  the  watch  on  deck  having 
successfully  handled  the  light  sails.  We  were  close 
enough  to  the  Diamond  Shoal  to  make  haste  a  matter 
of  importance,  and  the  officers  hustled  us  up  with 
out  much  ceremony.  The  topsails  were  quickly  reefed, 
and  I  had  just  secured  the  lee  earing  on  the  main 
topsail  yard  when  I  heard  the  order,  "  Hoist  away  the 
topsails! "  I  was  straddling  the  yard  at  the  time,  and 
just  about  to  swing  to  the  foot  rope  and  lay  down 

49 


A  Sailor's  Log 

from  aloft;  but  I  changed  my  mind  very  suddenly,  and 
instead  hugged  that  topsail  yard  until  I  am  sure  you 
could  have  found  the  marks  of  my  arms  on  the  paint., 
It  was  as  black  as  a  pocket,  raining  in  torrents,  and  as 
the  yards  were  braced  up  the  topsails  filled  and  the 
ship  made  a  butt  at  a  heavy  sea.  I  thought  my  time 
had  come.  I  reached  the  deck,  however,  in  safety, 
only  to  be  properly  dressed  down  by  the  officer  of  the 
deck  for  being  slow  in  laying  down  from  aloft!  We 
were  back  at  Newport  again  in  September,  better  for 
our  work,  and  ready  to  enjoy  the  short  leave  that  was 
then  given  us. 

My  family  had  all  gone  South,  and  it  was  a  ques 
tion  what  I  should  do  with  myself;  but  as  my  uncle's 
house  in  Washington  was  in  charge  of  a  housekeeper, 
I  concluded  to  spend  my  time  there,  which  I  did  very 
pleasantly.  The  good  woman  who  had  charge  of  the 
house  called  me  one  night  to  inform  me  that  there 
was  a  burglar  in  the  cellar,  and  would  I  put  him  out? 
I  was  not  anxious  for  the  job,  but  my  position  as  an 
officer  forbade  my  declining;  so  with  a  small  revolver 
in  one  hand  and  a  lighted  candle  in  the  other  I  sought 
the  burglar  in  the  coal  cellar.  I  had  hardly  entered 
the  passageway  leading  past  the  door  of  the  room  in 
which  he  was  located  when  a  large  chunk  of  coal 
whizzed  past  my  head,  and  very  close  to  it.  I  dropped 
the  candle,  which  fortunately  went  out,  putting  us  on 
more  even  terms,  and  after  ten  minutes  I  turned  my 
man  over  to  the  police  with  a  bullet  through  his  thigh. 
I  learned  that  night  not  to  hunt  burglars  with  a  lighted 
candle;  experience  sometimes  teaches  things  in  a  very 
forcible  way. 

50 


My   Rebel    Brother 

During  this  leave  I  had  a  curious  meeting  with  my 
rebel  brother,  whose  command  was  operating  on  the 
Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  a  few  miles  away.  I 
went  one  evening  to  an  oyster  house  with  a  friend  to 
eat  some  raw  oysters.  The  place  was  one  that  all  of 
us  had  known  and  frequented  for  years.  As  I  entered 
the  door  I  observed  a  tall,  handsome  young  fellow 
who  was  finishing  what  he  had  ordered,  and  at  the 
same  moment  I  saw  him  give  me  a  quick  glance  of 
recognition.  He  drank  up  his  glass  of  beer,  and  then 
walked  briskly  out  of  the  place,  while  I  called  for 
oysters  on  the  half  shell,  and  ate  them  very  slowly. 
My  brother  knew  what  I  would  do,  and  he  did  not 
hesitate  the  least  bit  in  his  movements;  but  I  had  some 
very  serious  thinking  to  do  while  the  man  opened 
oysters  for  me,  and  I  must  admit  that  I  ate  more  oys 
ters  than  I  wanted. 

I  could  have  gone  to  the  exact  spot  where  my 
brother's  skiff  was  hauled  out,  but  I  was  giving  him  all 
the  time  I  could  to  get  there  ahead  of  the  provost 
guard.  Finally,  my  friend  asked  me  if  I  were  going  to 
eat  all  night,  when  I  paid  my  shot  and  we  went  out  to 
gether.  I  asked  if  he  had  recognised  my  man;  he  re 
plied  that  he  had  not,  and  then  asked  me  in  turn  what 
I  was  going  to  do  about  it.  Before  I  had  time  to  reply, 
a  squad  of  the  provost  guard  came  by,  and  to  the  offi 
cer  in  charge  I  reported  that  there  was  a  rebel  officer 
in  the  city — that  I  had  seen  and  recognised  him,  and 
knew  him  as  such.  At  first  he  seemed  disposed  to 
arrest  me,  but  at  last  concluded  to  go  after  the  real 
offender.  After  the  war,  my  brother  told  me  that  he 
just  managed  to  escape,  and  that  he  had  concealed  his 


A  Sailor's  Log 

boat  at  the  spot  where  I  imagined  it  was.  As  a  result 
of  this  incident  I  was  twice  arrested  and  taken  before 
the  provost  marshal  on  suspicion  of  holding  inter 
course  with  rebels.  The  last  time  I  told  the  officer 
confidentially  who  the  man  was  I  had  reported,  and 
after  that  I  was  not  annoyed. 

Part  of  my  leave  I  spent  in  a  trip  to  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  to  get  an  idea  of  how  they  conducted 
their  business.  I  had  a  pass,  and  was  described  as  an 
aid  to  the  wounded.  The  horse  I  rode  was  hired  from 
a  livery  stable,  and  came  near  never  reaching  its  owner 
again.  I  soon  saw  enough  to  convince  me  that  the 
army  would  not  suit  me;  that  it  was  not  to  be  com 
pared  to  the  navy  for  comfort  or  for  getting  results. 
The  army  seemed  to  be  continually  fighting  and  killing 
people,  without  arriving  at  any  satisfactory  conclusion 
as  to  who  was  whipped,  both  sides  frequently  claiming 
the  same  fight.  There  was  much  straggling  in  the 
rear  of  the  army,  and  several  times  on  my  way  back 
to  Washington  I  was  asked  for  my  horse,  and  was  once 
shot  at  because  I  declined  to  comply  with  the  request. 
When  I  finally  recrossed  the  Long  Bridge  into  Wash 
ington  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  had  learned  all  I 
wanted  to  know  about  the  army. 

October,  1862,  found  us  all  back  at  Newport,  and 
once  more  settled  down  to  hard  work  and  study.  The 
demand  for  officers  was  so  great  that  the  class  was 
divided  into  two  sections,  and  the  instructions  ar 
ranged  so  that  the  first  section  could  be  graduated  in 
the  following  June.  It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  be 
one  of  this  first  section;  but  I  lost  nothing  by  this,  as 
we  shall  see  later  on. 

52 


Under   Discipline 

There  was  in  this  section,  however,  one  of  whom 
we  were  all  very  fond — the  young  Frenchman,  Pierre 
d'Orleans,  Due  4e  Penthievre,  who  preferred  to  ac 
quire  his  professional  education  under  American  aus 
pices.  He  was  a  fine,  manly  young  fellow,  known  in 
the  class  as  "  Pete,"  and  you  might  expect  to  find 
him  mixed  up  in  all  the  class  scrapes  and  troubles. 
I  remember  him  particularly  as  a  cunning  hand  with 
the  small  sword,  and  a  generous  giver  of  very  good 
French  chocolate,  an  article  which  he  consumed  and 
gave  away  in  enormous  quantities. 

During  the  winter  of  this  year  I  again  made  ac 
quaintance  with  the  dark  room  on  board  the  Consti- 
tutiqn.  Two  of  us  were  walking  about  during  the 
evening  in  the  park  opposite  our  quarters,  when  I  saw 
a  watchman  sneaking  through  the  trees  to  catch  some 
fellows  who  were  violating  regulations.  The  chance 
was  very  tempting,  a.nd  without  waiting  to  count  the 
cost  I  landed  a  good-sized  stone  fairly  behind  the 
watchman's  ear,  sending  him  to  the  hospital  for  re 
pairs.  Unfortunately  for  me,  there  was  a  citizen  near 
by  who  gave  the  commandant  so  good  a  description 
of  me  that  I  was  sent  for  the  next  morning,  and 
promptly  sent  on  board  ship  and  locked  up.  This 
was  bad  enough  in  all  reason,  but  I  soon  made  it 
much  worse.  The  officer  of  the  day,  wishing  to 
show  proper  respect  for  a  senior,  smuggled  me  a 
novel  and  a  candle,  and,  having  arranged  my  blanket 
so  as  to  shut  out  curious  eyes,  I  read  my  novel 
in  peace  until  the  sentry,  a  sailor  with  a  cutlass, 
pried  the  blanket  to  one  side.  I  blew  the  candle  out 
at  once,  and  then  arranged  the  spring  in  the  candle- 
5  53 


A  Sailor's  Log 

stick  so  that  I  could  shoot  the  candle  out  when 
ready.  Then  I  lighted  it  again,  and  taking  a  posi 
tion  favourable  for  my  purpose,  I  waited  for  the 
sailor;  and,  as  he  again  cautiously  pried  the  blanket 
aside,  I  fired  the  candle  through  the  opening.  Un 
fortunately,  it  struck  Jackey  in  the  eye,  and  thinking 
that  his  head  was  shot  off  he  bolted  from  his  station. 
In  a  short  while  the  commanding  officer  was  on  the 
scene,  and  then  an  end  was  put  to  my  sport.  I  was 
marched  out,  the  room  searched,  the  door  boarded  up 
solid,  and  the  key  again  turned  on  me.  This  time 
there  was  not  the  least  semblance  of  fun  about  it.  For 
two  weeks  I  was  kept  locked  up  and  then  released; 
but  for  several  days  I  could  not  do  anything,  as  the 
light  hurt  my  eyes  dreadfully.  It  seemed  to  require 
a  very  practical  demonstration  to  convince  me  that 
I  had  to  do  what  I  was  told.  This  last  experience 
went  a  long  way  in  that  direction. 


54 


CHAPTER  VI 

FIRST   ACTIVE    SERVICE 

THE  first  section  of  the  class  was  graduated  in 
June,  1863,  and  at  once  ordered  into  service.  The 
second  section  was  distributed  among  the  three  prac 
tice  ships,  which  were  to  take  the  junior  classes  out 
for  the  summer.  I  was  one  of  five  who  were  detailed 
as  watch  officers  for  the  sloop  of  war  Marion,  as  the 
Navy  Department  was  unable  to  spare  a  sufficient 
number  of  watch  officers  for  all  the  ships.  We  had  a 
captain,  of  course,  an  executive  officer,  and  a  navi 
gator,  and  five  first-class  men  in  the  wardroom.  Our 
crew  consisted  entirely  of  midshipmen,  who  did  all  the 
work  usually  done  by  sailors,  including  scrubbing  the 
decks  and  cleaning  the  ship.  We  were  to  cruise  along 
the  coast,  making  Newport  our  headquarters,  while  the 
other  ships  went  abroad. 

The  first  night  out  we  were  beating  clear  of 
Block  Island.  I  had  the  deck,  when,  at  2  A.  M.,  with 
a  good  stiff  breeze,  the  captain  ordered  me  to  tack 
ship  and  shorten  sail  in  stays.  The  helm  was  put 
down  and  I  was  getting  on  famously,  when  the  quar 
termaster  stepped  out  from  the  wheel  and  reported, 
"Wheel  ropes  carried  away,  sir!"  In  turn,  I  re 
ported  to  the  captain,  "  Wheel  ropes  are  carried 

55 


A  Sailor's  Log 

away,  sir! "  His  reply  was,  "  Well,  wheel  ropes  car 
ried  away,  what  do  you  do?  "  and  as  far  as  I  could 
see  he  paid  no  further  attention  to  me  until  the  ship 
was  close  hauled  on  the  other  tack,  with  the  light  sails 
furled.  Then,  in  a  quiet,  kindly  way,  he  pointed  out 
to  me  where  I  had  been  wrong,  at  the  same  time  com 
mending  my  general  work.  And  so  it  was  during  the 
entire  cruise:  every  man  of  us  had  to  rely  on  himself; 
but  at  the  same  time  a  careful,  conscientious  officer 
was  watching  us  and  correcting  us  when  we  went 
wrong.  Many  officers  in  the  service  to-day  remember 
gratefully  the  summer  cruise  of  the  Marion,  Captain 
E.  O.  Mathews  commanding. 

In  the  course  of  the  month  of  July  the  rebel  cruiser 
Florida  appeared  off  the  coast,  and  the  merchants 
of  the  exposed  cities  cried  out  for  protection.  The 
Marion  was  sent  out,  among  other  ships,  to  look  for  the 
privateer — an  old-fashioned  sailing  sloop  after  a  mod 
ern  steam  sloop  of  war!  At  the  same  time  several  ves 
sels  were  chartered  in  New  York,  guns  and  men  tum 
bled  on  board,  and  sent  out  to  cruise  off  the  coast. 
In  one  of  these  I  served. 

Captain  J.  W.  A.  Nicholson  was  ordered  to  com 
mand  a  new  steamer,  the  Governor  Buckingham, 
built  by  Mallory.  He  had  only  one  officer,  a  volun 
teer  acting  ensign,  so  he  applied  to  Captain  Mathews, 
who  told  him  that  I  could  be  spared,  and  could  per 
form  the  duty  of  watch  officer.  The  following  day 
I  received  a  telegram  from  the  Department  appoint 
ing  me  an  acting  lieutenant,  and  ordering  me  to 
report  to  Captain  Nicholson  for  duty,  which  I  did 
at  once.  The  captain  seemed  somewhat  surprised  at 

56 


Divided   Authority 

my  youthful  appearance,  but  nevertheless  directed  me 
to  find  a  crew  for  the  Buckingham,  get  the  guns  on 
board,  coal,  and  prepare  for  sea,  and  report  to  him 
when  everything  was  ready.  He  was  serving  as  one 
of  the  officers  of  the  yard  at  the  time.  On  board  the 
receiving  ship  I  was  abused  by  the  executive  officer 
because  I  did  not  have  the  proper  papers  from  the 
commandant,  and  cursed  all  over  the  quarter-deck  and 
into  the  cabin  by  the  captain,  who  was  a  fine  old 
seaman,  but  dreadfully  profane.  He  finally  gave  me 
thirty  men,  and  surely  not  the  best  I  ever  saw! 

On  board  the  Buckingham  I  found  a  very  curi 
ous  state  of  things.  The  contract  read  that  the  mer 
chant  captain,  his  officers  and  crew,  were  to  work 
the  ship  during  the  daytime  under  the  orders  of  the 
naval  captain,  and  to  feed  the  officers  but  not  the 
crew.  At  sundown  the  navy  men  were  to  take  charge 
of  the  ship  and  do  all  the  night  work.  The  engines 
were  to  be  run  by  the  owners  under  orders  of  the  naval 
captain,  the  navy  to  furnish  the  coal.  For  all  this  the 
Government  was  to  pay  one  thousand  dollars  per  day. 

As  soon  as  I  had  my  crew  on  board  I  hauled  the 
ship  into  the  ordnance  dock,  took  on  three  small  guns 
and  the  necessary  ammunition,  and  at  once  anchored 
off  the  yard  and  began  coaling.  We  had  only  taken  in 
a  few  bags,  when  one  of  the  men,  a  little  the  worse  for 
liquor,  concluded  that  I  was  neither  old  enough  nor 
large  enough  to  make  him  work;  on  the  contrary,  he 
would  show  me  a  thing  or  two.  I  landed  on  top  of 
him  from  the  deck  above  with  a  heavy  brass  trumpet, 
and  he  was  convinced  of  his  mistake  in  less  than  half 
a  minute.  I  tied  him  up  securely,  bandaged  his  head, 

57 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  locked  him  up  in  a  coal  bunker.  Early  the  next 
day  I  reported  the  ship  ready,  and  that  afternoon  we 
sailed  in  search  of  the  Florida.  Several  chartered  ves 
sels  went  on  the  same  mission  about  the  same  time, 
and  one  of  them,  the  Ericsson,  was  fortunate  enough 
to  sight  the  privateer  about  fifty  miles  northeast  of 
Sandy  Hook.  She  was  also  fortunate  enough  to  get 
away  from  her  when  the  Florida  gave  chase!  She 
steamed  much  faster  on  the  trip  in  than  she  did  going 
out.  I  had  expected  to  be  punished  for  my  encounter 
with  the  man,  but  Captain  Nicholson  considered  the 
peculiar  circumstances  under  which  I  was  working,  and 
dismissed  the  matter  with  a  caution — not  to  me,  but  to 
the  man,  who  afterward  proved  himself  a  very  good 
sort  of  a  chap. 

We  ran  as  far  north  as  Cape  Sable  with  the  Buck 
ingham,  and  then  cruised  slowly  back,  reaching  New 
York  safely  after  an  absence  of  three  weeks,  without 
seeing  the  Florida,  which  was  no  doubt  fortunate  for 
us,  as  we  were  not  fast  enough  to  get  away  from  her, 
and  certainly  not  strong  enough  to  fight  her.  But  we 
satisfied  the  merchants  of  New  York,  and  that  was 
what  it  was  all  about.  I  had  done  the  duty  of  execu 
tive  officer,  navigator,  and  watch  officer,  besides  drill 
ing  the  men  for  two  hours  every  day.  Captain  Nichol 
son  was  good  enough  to  commend  me  for  my  service. 
Our  acting  ensign  had  been  found  asleep  on  watch 
shortly  after  we  sailed,  and  was  not  again  put  on  duty, 
the  captain  and  I  standing  all  the  night  watches.  One 
part  of  the  contract  I  remember  was  faithfully  carried 
out:  I  mean  the  feeding  of  the  officers.  I  never  have 
lived  so  well  at  sea  since.  Every  night  during  the 

58 


The   First   Command 

mid  watch  a  beautiful  lunch  was  served  to  the  offi 
cer  of  the  deck,  including  a  bottle  of  wine  if  he 
wanted  it. 

After  the  return  of  the  Buckingham  I  was  sent 
back  to  the  Marion,  and  was  then  given  command  of 
the  yacht  America,  two  guns,  and  a  crew  of  twenty- 
four  midshipmen.  In  company  with  the  Marion  we 
again  sailed  in  search  of  the  Florida,  but  failed  to  come 
up  with  her.  I  enjoyed  every  day  and  hour  of  my  first 
command,  and  never  missed  a  chance  to  race  with  any 
thing,  from  a  steamer  down  to  a  pilot  boat.  For  some 
time  I  was  cruising  by  myself  off  Cape  Cod  and  to 
ward  the  Banks,  and  while  so  employed  overhauled  an 
English  steamer,  the  skipper  of  which  was  not  disposed 
to  pay  much  attention  to  me.  Two  shells  across  his 
bow  seemed  to  have  no  effect,  but  the  third,  which 
landed  in  his  main  hatch,  brought  him  to  very  quick 
ly.  On  my  way  back  to  Newport  I  sighted  a  schooner 
off  Nantucket  Shoals,  and  stood  toward  her.  She 
made  every  effort  to  escape,  but  the  wind  was  very 
light,  and  we  slowly  fanned  up  on  her  quarter.  I  saw 
that  she  was  a  whaler  homeward  bound,  and  the  men 
of  the  crew  were  amusing  themselves  catching  mack 
erel.  I  had  not,  up  to  this  time,  shown  my  colours. 
When  I  hoisted  the  flag  I  hailed,  "  Schooner  ahoy! " 
"Hello!"  came  back.  "Have  you  seen  anything  of 
any  pirates  offshore?  "  "  No;  bein't  you  a  pirate?  " 
The  captain  had  mistaken  the  character  of  my  ship, 
and  when  he  discovered  his  error  promptly  swung  out 
a  boat  and  sent  me  a  mess  of  the  finest  mackerel  I 
ever  saw. 

We  returned  to  Newport  late  in  September,  and 
59 


A  Sailor's  Log 

were  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  Navy  Department  had 
decided  to  send  us  into  service  immediately.  Our  edu 
cations  were  not  complete,  but  we  knew  enough  to 
look  out  for  a  ship  and  stop  bullets,  which  were  the 
important  things.  We  were  commissioned  as  acting 
ensigns  from  October  i,  1863. 

After  ten  days'  leave  I  reported  on  board  the 
United  States  steamer  Powhatan  at  Philadelphia, 
where  she  was  refitting  for  service  in  the  West  Indies. 
I  was  at  once  given  a  watch  and  division  of  guns,  and 
two  classmates  and  I  composed  the  watch  officers 
of  the  ship.  Captain  William  Ronckendorf  was  the 
commanding  officer,  and  it  has  been  truly  said  of  him 
that  he  could  make  himself  disagreeable  in  more  dif 
ferent  ways  than  any  man  who  ever  wore  naval  uniform. 
I  agree  perfectly  with  the  man  who  said  it. 

After  ten  days'  hard  work  we  put  to  sea  with  a 
fairly  good  crew  and  a  large  Complement  of  officers, 
all  anxious  for  active  service.  Although  we  had  many 
officers,  we  were  kept  in  three  Watches,  because  the 
captain  would  not  trust  volunteer  officers  to  take 
the  deck.  We  had  seven  of  these  gentlemen,  excellent 
men,  who  had  commanded  ships,  many  of  them,  before 
I  was  born;  but  they  knew  nothing  of  man-of-war 
routine,  and  this  we  had  to  teach  them.  Drills  were 
constant — forenoon,  afternoon,  and  generally  once 
during  the  night.  In  addition  I  was  made  midship 
man  of  the  foretop,  and  spent  a  good  portion  of  my 
time  aloft  instructing  the  green  men  of  the  crew  in 
bending  and  unbending  sails,  and  the  thousand  and 
one  things  a  topman  has  to  know.  Every  time  the 
men  were  sent  aloft,  up  I  went,  day  or  night,  rain  or 

60 


Admiral   Lardner 

shine.  By  the  time  we  reached  Cape  Haytien,  which 
was  headquarters  of  the  Flying  Squadron,  to  which  we 
belonged,  I  had  about  concluded  that  I  at  least  had 
work  enough  to  keep  me  from  rusting  out. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Cape  Haytien  the  captain  re 
ported  us  for  duty  as  flagship  of  the  squadron,  and  the 
next  day  we  flew  the  flag  of  Rear-Admiral  James 
Lardner,  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  the  old  navy. 
He  was  the  very  opposite  of  our  captain — a  splendid 
seaman,  a  courteous,  kindly  gentleman,  brave  to  the 
point  of  recklessness,  an  honour  to  the  service,  and  a 
man  under  whom  all  were  glad  to  serve.  Tall  and 
commanding  in  figure,  with  close-cropped,  snow-white 
hair  and  mustache,  he  looked  what  he  really  was,  the 
ideal  commander.  As  soon  as  he  came  on  board  many 
of  the  petty  annoyances  from  which  we  had  suffered 
ceased,  and  we  became  contented  and  happy.  It  is 
difficult  to  convince  any  one  to-day  of  how  completely 
the  captain  ruled  things  in  the  time  of  which  I  am 
writing.  There  was  no  law  off  soundings  beyond  the 
captain's  will,  unless  you  had  an  admiral  on  board, 
when  his  will  became  the  law.  Officers  could  be,  and 
to  my  knowledge  were,  kept  on  board  for  months  with 
out  ever  being  allowed  on  shore,  because  the  captain 
thought  it  was  better  for  them! 

Admiral  Lardner  had  some  peculiarities  which  were 
striking;  anything  that  savoured  of  insubordination  or 
disrespect  brought  the  severest  punishment,  gener 
ally  a  tongue-lashing  the  recipient  remembered  all  his 
life.  To  a  naturally  fluent  tongue  the  admiral  added 
a  vocabulary  of  oaths  so  fine  that  it  was  musical,  and 
when  aroused  he  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  his  mind 

61 


A  Sailor's  Log 

in  the  language  all  seamen  understand.  At  the  same 
time  his  black  eyes  shone  like  fireflies,  and  his  white 
mustache  bristled,  each  hair  standing  on  end.  He  cer 
tainly  was  a  darling,  and  much  beloved  by  all  of  us. 

When  the  Rhode  Island  was  his  flagship,  Captain 
Trenchard,  who  commanded,  had  a  very  accomplished 
steward,  a  coloured  man,  who  had  become  so  expert  in 
catching  flies  off  the  captain's  bald  head  that  he  was 
never  annoyed  by  them.  Admiral  Lardner  had  for  his 
steward  a  fine,  large,  heavy-handed  Irishman,  who 
watched  the  coloured  man  with  great  envy  while  his 
master,  undisturbed,  enjoyed  his  meals.  Pat's  master 
thrashed  at  the  flies,  and  swore  roundly  as  they  lighted 
on  his  close-cropped  hair.  The  coloured  man  went  on 
catching  flies  with  a  quick,  dexterous  movement  of  his 
right  hand  until  Pat  could  stand  it  no  longer.  Draw 
ing  back,  he  made  a  vicious  swing  at  a  fly,  but,  instead 
of  catching  it,  he  caught  the  admiral  an  awful  blow  on 
the  back  of  his  head.  The  admiral,  thinking  there  was 
a  mutiny,  grabbed  the  carving  knife,  and  made  after 
Patrick,  who  retreated  to  the  spar  deck,  and  there  was 
a  hurdle  race  fore  and  aft — the  officer  of  the  deck  and 
the  orderly  trying  to  catch  the  admiral,  who  was  doing 
his  best  to  put  the  carving  knife  in  the  back  of  Pat, 
who  finally  escaped,  but  never  bothered  any  more 
about  flies  on  the  admiral's  head. 

One  of  the  crew  of  the  admiral's  barge,  a  man  the 
admiral  was  very  fond  of,  died,  and,  as  a  mark  of  great 
respect,  he  went  to  the  grave  to  see  the  poor  fellow 
buried.  The  grave  diggers  had,  for  some  reason,  dug 
a  very  shallow  grave,  which  so  incensed  the  admiral 
that  he  spoke  to  them  very  severely,  and  not  receiving 

62 


The   Flying   Squadron 

a  satisfactory  reply,  seized  a  stick  and  made  after  them. 
They  ran,  but  he  was  too  quick  for  them;  he  caught 
them  and  forced  them  to  return,  and  while  we  stood 
around  waiting,  made  them  dig  a  proper  grave  in 
which  poor  Jack  was  decently  buried. 

The  duty  of  the  Flying  Squadron  was  to  look  after 
the  rebel  privateers  in  the  West  Indies,  and  see  that 
they  did  not  interfere  with  the  Pacific  mail  steamers 
on  their  regular  trips.  In  order  to  do  this  most 
effectually,  some  vessel,  often  the  flagship,  met  the 
steamer  at  Mariguana  Island,  and  convoyed  her  clear 
of  Navassa,  where  she  was  left  to  depend  on  her  heels 
for  safety.  The  convoying  vessel  got  her  mail  first, 
and  generally  a  file  of  late  papers  from  home,  so  the 
duty  was  considered  choice,  and  all  hands  were  anxious 
for  the  job.  As  soon  as  the  mail  steamer  was  out  of 
sight  a  cruise  around  the  south  side  of  Cuba  was  in 
order,  generally  including  Havana  and  Key  West,  and 
then  back  to  Cape  Haytien. 

The  vessels  of  the  squadron  were  kept  constantly 
cruising  through  the  Windward  Islands  and  as  far 
south  as  the  Spanish  Main,  and  though  we  used  our 
best  exertions  we  never  came  up  with  a  privateer,  be 
cause  none  of  them  visited  that  part  of  the  world.  For 
several  months  we  cruised  constantly,  disguised  as  a 
Frenchman,  and  showing  French  colours  to  passing 
vessels,  with  the  idea  that  we  might  thus  decoy  the 
Alabama  within  range  of  guns.  During  a  part  of  this 
time  we  had  yellow  fever  on  board,  and  to  get  rid 
of  it  we  steamed  out  into  the  trade  winds,  stopped 
the  engines,  put  the  ship  under  sail,  and  slowly 
cruised  around  with  the  wind  abeam,  until  the  fever 

63 


A  Sailor's  Log 

disappeared.  The  admiral  was  very  fond  of  sailing, 
and  there  was  no  end  to  sail  and  spar  drills.  He 
would  reef  the  buckets  of  our  paddle  wheels,  set  stud 
ding  sails  on  both  sides,  and  run  off  to  leeward,  ap 
parently  for  the  fun  of  beating  back  again. 

Once  we  thought  we  had  the  Alabama  sure.  We 
were  anchored  at  Cape  Haytien,  when  a  messenger 
arrived  from  the  consul  at  St.  Nicholas  Mole  with  word 
that  the  Alabama  was  anchored  in  that  harbour.  In  a 
few  minutes  we  were  under  way,  heading  to  the  west 
ward,  all  sails  set,  and  using  pork  in  our  furnaces  to  get 
all  the  speed  we  could  out  of  the  old  ship.  She  really 
made  fourteen  knots  all  the  way.  On  the  way  down 
the  ship  was  cleared  for  action,  and  every  preparation 
made  to  fight  and  fight  hard.  The  admiral  did  not 
intend  that  the  Alabama  should  get  away  from  him,  as 
she  had  from  several  others  who  had  sighted  her.  As 
we  approached  the  harbour  preparations  were  made  for 
anchoring;  men  were  stationed  by  both  anchors  to  let 
go  when  ordered,  but  the  anchors  were  lashed  so  se 
curely  that  nothing  short  of  an  axe  could  have  got 
them  clear.  It  was  the  intention,  if  we  found  the  Ala 
bama  in  port,  to  approach  her  at  full  speed,  and  when 
very  close  to  back  the  engines  and  order  both  anchors 
let  go,  which  failing,  she  would,  of  course,  be  sunk 
in  the  collision  that  would  follow.  We  stood  at  our 
stations  peering  into  the  dark  as  we  tore  around  the 
harbour  at  twelve  knots,  much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
people  on  shore,  but  there  was  no  Alabama. 

The  next  day  we  found  that  an  English  sloop  of 
war  had  caused  all  the  trouble.  Fortunately  for  her, 
she  had  gone  out  in  the  afternoon  for  target  prac- 

64 


Troublesome   Sailors 

tice,  and  remained  outside  overnight.  If  she  had  been 
anchored  inside,  nothing  could  have  saved  her,  as  the 
admiral  had  made  up  his  mind  what  he  was  going 
to  do,  and  would  not  have  waited  to  ask  any  ques 
tions.  We  agreed  among  ourselves  that  the  captain 
of  that  ship  ought  to  buy  a  lottery  ticket! 

Our  men  were  kept  on  board  so  long,  and  we  were 
so  steadily  under  steam,  that  they  became  very  irritable 
and  ugly.  Fights  were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  some 
of  them  serious.  If  a  deck  hand  interfered  in  any  way 
with  a  man  from  the  engine  room,  there  was  a  fight 
on  the  spot ;  and  even  the  firemen  fought  among  them 
selves  on  the  slightest  provocation.  The  heat  seemed 
to  make  them  particularly  ugly.  Several  men  lost 
their  lives  in  this  way,  and  the  admiral  finally  went  to 
St.  Thomas  to  give  shore  liberty  to  the  crew. 

When  we  arrived  we  found  the  English  Flying 
Squadron  in  port,  but  while  the  feeling  against  them 
was  very  bitter,  we  did  not  consider  it  a  good  reason 
why  our  men  should  be  kept  on  board;  so  the  starboard 
watch,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  were 
sent  on  shore  for  twenty-four  hours.  It  was  only  a  few 
hours  before  word  came  off  that  there  was  trouble 
ashore,  and  later  a  letter  from  the  English  admiral,  say 
ing  that  our  men  were  rioting  with  the  English  sailors, 
some  of  whom  had  been  killed.  Admiral  Lardner  di 
rected  the  captain  to  send  the  other  watch  on  shore. 
And  then  there  was  a  fine  time,  sure  enough!  The 
Danish  garrison  was  turned  out  and  attempted  to  arrest 
some  of  the  leaders;  but  they  were  soon  driven  back 
into  their  forts,  and  the  English  and  our  men  went  at  it 
again.  The  native  negroes  all  sided  with  the  English, 

65 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  our  people  had  them  to  contend  with  as  well. 
Just  before  sundown  the  general  recall  was  hoisted  as 
a  signal  for  all  hands  to  repair  on  board,  and  such  boats 
as  we  could  man  were  sent  in  charge  of  officers  to  bring 
the  men  off.  I  was  sent  in  the  admiral's  barge,  the 
crew  of  which  were  picked  men,  and  I  anticipated  no 
trouble  with  them;  but  on  nearing  the  landing,  where 
two  or  three  hundred  men  were  fighting  with  such 
weapons  as  they  could  find,  I  heard  the  stretchers  be 
gin  to  rattle  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  the  oars  were 
tossed,  and  before  I  knew  what  had  happened  every 
man  of  the  crew  was  out  of  the  boat  and  into  the  fight, 
stretcher  in  hand.  I  followed,  also  armed  with  a 
stretcher,  a  very  handy  piece  of  white  ash,  and  soon 
had  my  boat  nearly  loaded  with  men.  But,  unfortu 
nately,  I  saw  one  of  our  men  with  three  or  four  natives 
after  him,  and  went  at  once  to  his  assistance.  As  I 
grabbed  him  by  the  arm  one  of  the  negroes  struck  at 
my  head  with  a  broken  oar,  but  only  hit  me  across 
the  shoulders,  which  probably  saved  my  life.  I  was 
knocked  down,  of  course,  but  quickly  regained  my  feet 
with  a  fine  round  stone  in  my  hand,  which  I  planted 
squarely  in  the  negro's  mouth,  and  he  gave  no  further 
trouble.  By  midnight  we  had  our  people  on  board, 
and  found  that  three  had  been  killed  and  many  more 
or  less  seriously  wounded,  while  the  English  were  in 
about  the  same  fix.  Some  of  the  rum  mills  on  the 
water  front  were  badly  wrecked.  After  this  experience 
our  men  had  no  more  shore  liberty  until  we  got  back 
to  the  United  States. 

Many  years  afterward  I  visited  St.  Thomas,  and 
at  the  best  hotel  I  saw  a  coloured  porter  without  any 

66 


A   Fatal   Accident 

front  teeth,  who  told  me,  when  I  asked  him  what  had 
become  of  them,  "  A  little  Yankee  midshipman  hit 
me  in  the  mouth  with  a  rock!  "  He  was  my  friend  with 
the  broken  oar. 

During  the  time  we  were  lying  at  headquarters  the 
watch  officers  had  a  peculiar  duty  to  perform  in  addi 
tion  to  their  regular  work.  The  officer  who  had  the 
first  watch  at  night  was  obliged  to  be  ready  for  duty  at 
four  the  next  morning.  As  soon  as  the  men  had  had 
their  coffee,  he  left  the  ship  with  two  boats  and  the  fish 
ing  seine,  and  was  expected  back  by  eight  o'clock,  with 
fish  enough  for  the  whole  crew.  The  fishing  ground 
was  five  or  six  miles  away,  and  to  get  to  it  we  had 
to  find  our  way  through  a  tangle  of  shoals  and  coral 
heads,  but  once  on  the  ground  we  could  fill  both  boats 
with  tarpon  or  other  splendid  fish  at  one  haul  of  the 
seine.  Usually  we  reached  the  ship  just  in  time  for 
breakfast,  and  then  went  on  duty  for  four  hours,  which 
made  a  pretty  long  forenoon  of  it.  However,  we  were 
young  and  strong,  and  could  stand  almost  anything. 

One  morning  while  exercising  at  sail  drill,  we  had 
a  sad  accident,  which  was  long  remembered  by  the 
whole  crew.  We  had  two  brothers  on  board,  one  a 
seaman  about  twenty-three  years  old,  and  the  other 
a  landsman  about  eighteen;  both  excellent  men,  very 
active  and  promising.  The  younger  one  missed  his 
footing  in  the  foretopmast  rigging,  and  fell  to  the  deck 
and  died  in  a  few  hours.  We  were  quarantined  at  the 
time,  and  could  not  bury  his  body  on  shore;  neither 
could  we  buy  screws  for  his  coffin  when  we  found  that 
there  were  none  on  board.  The  coffin  had  to  be  nailed 
up,  which  was  anything  but  a  pleasant  performance, 


A  Sailor's  Log 

as  the  carpenter,  a  little  nervous.,  I  suppose,  hit  the 
coffin  lid  much  oftener  than  he  did  the  heads  of  the 
nails.  I  never  understood  why  the  captain  insisted  on 
burying  the  body  in  a  coffin,  but  he  probably  had  a 
reason  of  his  own  which  he  did  not  confide  to  us. 

Just  before  sundown  two  boats  were  called  away 
and  dropped  to  the  gangway — -one  for  the  body,  and 
the  other  to  tow  it  out  to  sea,  where  it  was  to  be  buried. 
All  hands  were  called  to  bury  the  dead,  and  I  was  or,- 
dered  to  take  charge  of  the  boats  when  everything  was 
ready.  The  coffin  was  placed  on  the  quarter-deck,  the 
officers  and  men  paraded,  and  the  captain  had  pro 
nounced  a  few  words  of  the  burial  service,  when  a.  loud, 
prolonged  squeak  was  heard,  and  the  lid  of  the  coffin 
slowly  raised  several  inches.  It  was  the  most  terrify 
ing  sound  I  ever  heard  in  my  life,  and  the  effect  was 
startling;  most  of  the  men  bolted  forward,  and  the 
officers  were  very  pale.  I  was  standing  near  the  head 
of  the  coffin,  and  my  legs  were  only  prevented  from 
carrying  me  away  by  the  fact  that  my  hands  were 
firmly  gripping  the  spokes  of  the  wheel.  The  trouble 
was  soon  manifest:  the  gases  formed  in  the  body  had 
caused  it  to  swell  and  lift  the  lid  of  the  coffin,  and  the 
nails  in  drawing  out  made  the  awful  noise  that  had 
so  startled  over  three  hundred  men. 

There  was  some  delay  in  getting  things  ready  again, 
and  when  I  finally  left  the  ship  with  a  crew  of  petty  offi 
cers,  towing  the  boat  with  the  body  in  it,  the  moon  had 
risen.  Out  over  the  bar  we  went,  pitching  into  rather 
a  rough  sea  until  I  thought  we  had  reached  the  right 
spot,  when  the  boat  was  hauled  up  alongside  and  the 
body  consigned  to  the  deep.  Then  we  started  back  for 

68 


A   Weird    Experience 

the  ship.  We  had  gone  only  a  few  hundred  yards  when 
the  men  fell  into  a  perfect  panic;  some  of  them  even 
dropped  their  oars  overboard,  and  all  hands  stopped 
pulling,  their  faces  white  and  terror-stricken.  The 
stroke  oar,  a  splendid  specimen  of  manhood,  fairly 
shook  as  he  said  to  me,  "  He's  coming,  sir!  "  I  turned, 
and  looking  out  to  sea,  was  not  surprised  at  the  con 
dition  of  the  men,  for  I  was  horrified  myself  at  what  I 
saw.  The  coffin  was  standing  upright  in  the  water, 
and  as  it  rose  on  the  seas  it  seemed,  in  the  moonlight, 
to  be  making  great  jumps  after  us.  It  certainly  was  a 
most  nerve-shattering  sight,  especially  after  the  un 
pleasant  scene  on  board  ship.  There  was  only  one 
thing  to  do,  and  after  quite  a  struggle  with  the  men 
we  pulled  back,  knocked  the  head  of  the  coffin  in  and 
allowed  it  to  sink.  It  was  the  most  uncanny  job  I 
ever  did  in  my  life,  I  think,  and  I  was  glad  when  we 
were  back  on  board  and  the  boats  hoisted  up.  No  real 
danger  could  have  frightened  any  one  of  the  crew; 
they  were  a  splendid,  manly  lot,  and  showed  great 
spirit  when  in  action;  but  just  a  touch  of  the  super 
natural,  the  least  bit,  and  they  were  ready  to  hide  their 
heads  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat. 

Havana  was,  for  some  reasons,  the  most  pleasant 
port  to  visit  on  the  station;  we  got  fine  cheap  cigars, 
and  sometimes  good  meat  there,  but  we  hated  it  more 
than  any  place  we  had  to  go  to,  because  the  people 
were  so  bitter  against  us.  The  Southerners  who  lived 
there  were  not  so  bad,  but  the  Spaniards  were  almost 
unbearable.  On  several  occasions  we  found  blockade 
runners  anchored  in  the  harbour,  and  their  crews 
would  pelt  our  boats  with  lumps  of  coal  as  we  passed 
6  69 


A  Sailor's  Log 

back  and  forth,  all  of  which  we  could  avoid  by  pulling 
a  bit  farther  away;  but  the  abuse  on  shore  we  could 
not  avoid,  as  we  were  obliged  always  to  land  in  uni 
form.  Under  such  conditions  collisions  were  frequent, 
and  as  a  rule  we  were  content  with  the  way  we  came 
out  of  them.  In  the  matter  of  coal  we  were  held 
strictly  to  the  law,  while  the  blockade  runners  were 
allowed  great  latitude,  and  in  consequence  were  very 
successful. 

In  1864  Jeffrard  was  ruler  of  Hayti,  and  his  iron 
hand  was  felt  by  all  classes.  He  was  thoroughly  hated 
but  at  the  same  time  feared  by  the  people  generally. 
Revolutions,  shootings,  and  hangings  were  the  order 
of  the  day;  the  people  seemed  happy,  and  appeared  to 
enjoy  all  these  diversions.  The  ordinary  routine  was 
somewhat  varied  during  one  of  our  stays  in  Cape 
Haytien  by  the  discovery  of  a  gang  of  cannibals,  who 
occupied  a  strong  position  in  the  mountains  near  the 
Old  Castle.  Jeffrard  went  after  them,  captured  the 
whole  lot,  brought  them  to  Cape  Haytien,  where  they 
were  confined  for  a  few  days,  and  then  shot.  It  was 
reported  and  believed  at  the  time  that  several  barrels 
of  human  flesh  had  been  captured  with  the  prisoners, 
and  that  some  of  it  was  produced  in  evidence  before 
they  were  shot.  The  favourite  morsel  was  said  to  be 
the  palm  of  the  hand.  If  one  could  judge  from  appear 
ances,  we  were  sure  Jeffrard  made  no  mistake  in  shoot 
ing  this  lot,  for  they  certainly  were  the  worst-looking 
cutthroats  we  had  ever  seen. 

During  the  month  of  October,  1864,  a  rumour 
came  that  we  would  soon  be  ordered  to  the  United 
States  for  more  active  duty  than  we  had  been  having 

70 


Homeward    Bound 

in  the  West  Indies.  The  next  mail  brought  the  order, 
and  all  hands,  from  the  admiral  down,  were  as  happy  as 
boys  out  of  school.  Our  preparations  for  departure 
were  quickly  made,  and  we  said  good-bye  to  the  West 
Indies,  yellow  fever,  rebel  sympathizers,  heat,  filth,  and 
hard  service — the  whole  outfit — without  a  single  pang. 
The  old  ship  seemed  to  know  that  she  was  homeward 
bound,  and  did  her  best.  Early  in  November  we  an 
chored  in  Hampton  Roads,  and  as  soon  as  possible  all 
hands,  as  they  could  be  spared  from  duty,  sought  the 
dissipations  of  the  city  of  Norfolk,  which  at  that  time 
was  not  the  best  place  in  the  world  for  those  wearing 
United  States  uniform.  However,  we  did  manage  to 
enjoy  a  good  square  meal  and  the  conversation  of 
people  of  our  own  race.  Only  those  who  have  served 
away  from  home  can  appreciate  what  all  this  means, 
and  how  we  enjoyed  it. 

Soon  after  our  arrival,  Admiral  Lardner  was  de 
tached,  and  left  the  ship  with  the  respect  and  affec 
tion  of  every  officer  and  man  aboard.  A  few  days 
later  Captain  Ronckendorf  was  sent  to  other  duty,  and 
Commodore  Schenck  took  his  place.  In  our  new  com 
mander  we  had  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  navy, 
and  one  who  soon  endeared  himself  to  all  on  board. 
He  found  a  splendidly  drilled  crew  and  a  ship  thor 
oughly  organized  in  every  department  and  detail,  and 
he  showed  his  appreciation  of  it  all.  Our  men  were 
all  long-service  men,  and  there  was  not  the  demoraliza 
tion  that  always  comes  with  a  draft  of  new  men  to  be 
whipped  into  shape  with  a  lot  of  old  ones.  I  am  sure 
we  did  not  require  a  dozen  men  to  complete  our  com 
plement. 


A  Sailor's  Log 

We  lost  one  man  in  a  curious  way.  We  had 
among  the  crew  a  "  bounty  jumper  " — so  called  be 
cause  he  had  drawn  a  bounty  on  enlistment  and  then 
deserted.  In  fact,  he  had  repeated  this  trick  a  good 
many  times  before  he  finally  fitted  into  his  place  on 
board  the  Powhatan.  He  was  a  plausible  sort  of  a 
chap,  and  had  made  himself  a  favourite  with  the  men 
on  board  to  such  an  extent  that  the  petty  officers 
had  made  him  caterer  of  their  mess,  and  had  given 
him  quite  a  large  sum  of  money  with  which  to 
buy  stores.  When  we  anchored,  well  up  toward  the 
middle  ground,  a  number  of  bumboats  came  off  to 
trade  with  us,  and  when  they  left  it  was  soon  discov 
ered  that  the  "  bounty  jumper  "  had  gone  with  them, 
taking  all  the  mess  money.  A  boat  was  soon  ready 
to  follow  them,  manned  by  a  crew  of  petty  officers, 
as  they  would  be  sure  to  pull  harder  than  any  others 
in  the  ship.  I  was  sent  in  charge  of  the  boat,  and 
soon  picked  out  the  canoe  containing  the  deserter  by 
the  frantic  efforts  she  was  making  to  escape,  which 
she  finally  did,  owing  to  the  long  start  she  had.  All 
the  canoes,  half  a  dozen  or  more,  landed  at  the  same 
place  five  minutes  ahead  of  me,  and  in  the  semi-dark 
ness  I  could  not  see  where  the  men  disappeared.  I  at 
once  notified  the  guards  about  the  fort  of  what  had 
happened,  and  asked  the  officer  of  the  day  to  order 
the  man's  arrest,  which  he  did.  Then  I  went  back  to 
my  boat,  and  found  that  the  crew  had  been  looking 
about,  but  found  nothing  of  importance.  Just  as  I 
was  about  to  shove  off,  a  tall,  powerful  boatswain's 
mate  said:  "  Let  me  look  under  this  wharf,  sir;  it  is 
low  tide;  he  may  be  there."  Off  he  went,  and  was  gone 

72 


Homeward   Bound 

five  or  ten  minutes.  I  could  hear  him  occasionally 
splashing  around,  but  not  making  noise  enough  to  in 
dicate  any  trouble.  Finally,  he  came  back,  reported, 
"  He's  gone,  sir! "  and  I  returned  to  the  ship  at  once. 
The  next  morning  the  body  of  the  man  we  had  been 
looking  for  was  found  under  the  wharf  with  his  throat 
cut  from  ear  to  ear,  and  no  money  on  his  person.  His 
was  one  of  the  vacancies  we  had  to  fill  from  Norfolk. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   FIRST   FORT   FISHER   CAMPAIGN 

ADMIRAL  PORTER  assumed  command  in  Novem 
ber,  and  at  once  began  assembling  a  powerful  fleet. 
Every  preparation  was  made  for  active  service. 
Boilers  and  machinery  were  overhauled,  magazines, 
shell  rooms,  and  storerooms  replenished,  and  constant 
target  practice  was  had  with  all  guns.  By  the  end  of 
November  the  largest  fleet  ever  seen  under  the  Ameri 
can  flag  was  assembled  in  Hampton  Roads,  all  classes, 
from  the  largest  monitor  to  the  small  gunboat,  being 
represented.  Our  destination  was  a  secret,  carefully 
guarded;  but  we  surmised  from  what  was  taking  place 
that  some  important  move  was  contemplated,  and  in 
this  we  were  not  mistaken.  It  was  evident  from  the 
daily  target  practice  that  the  admiral  meant  we  should 
hit  something  when  the  time  for  action  came,  and  the 
landing  of  the  men  on  the  beach  for  drill  was  an  in 
dication  of  possible  shore  service. 

The  Ticonderoga,  anchored  near  us,  was  firing  at 
target  one  morning,  and  making  such  good  practice 
that  we  were  all  watching  her  with  great  interest, 
when  one  of  her  pivot  guns,  a  large-calibre  Parrott, 
was  fired.  There  was  a  terrific  report,  as  if  the  shell 
had  burst  at  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  a  great  cloud  of 

74 


Arrival   of  Troops 

smoke,  and  then  something  struck  close  to  her,  mak 
ing  a  great  splash  in  the  water.  At  the  same  time, 
or  shortly  afterward,  the  shot  she  had  fired  fell  near 
the  target.  About  two  feet  of  the  muzzle  of  the 
gun  had  blown  off,  straight  up  in  the  air,  and  come 
down  within  twenty  feet  of  the  ship.  It  was  the 
most  curious  of  the  many  accidents  we  had  then 
and  afterward  with  the  Parrott  rifles.  This  particu 
lar  gun,  though  two  feet  shorter  than  it  was  in 
tended  to  be,  was  continued  in  service,  and  did  good 
work. 

Early  in  December  the  troopships  arrived — thir 
teen  thousand  men  under  General  B.  F.  Butler — and 
still  our  destination  was  a  secret. 

About  this  time  I  received  a  letter  by  flag  of 
truce  from  my  brother,  who  was  serving  as  a  captain 
of  scouts  on  General  Lee's  staff,  in  which  he  said, 
"  We  will  give  you  a  warm  reception  at  Fort  Fisher 
when  you  get  there!  " — showing  that  our  intended 
move  was  not  so  much  of  a  secret  to  the  rebels  as 
it  was  to  us.  The  information  must  have  been  sent 
from  Washington,  as  no  one  in  the  fleet,  outside  the 
admiral's  immediate  official  family,  knew  anything 
about  it.  When  I  showed  the  letter  to  Commodore 
Schenck,  which  I  was  required  to  do  by  the  regula 
tions,  he  seemed  much  surprised,  and  sent  me  with 
it  at  once  to  Admiral  Porter,  who  was  very  indig 
nant  when  he  had  read  it.  For  myself,  I  thought 
my  brother  had  only  made  a  good  guess;  there  were 
only  a  few  important  places  on  the  Southern  coast  re 
maining  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and,  as  our  prepara 
tions  surely  indicated  an  important  move,  he  guessed, 

75 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  guessed  correctly,  that  we  were  after  the  most  im 
portant  of  the  lot. 

Toward  the  middle  of  December  all  our  prepara 
tions  had  been  completed,  and  we  put  to  sea  under 
sealed  orders.  It  was  a  grand  sight  as  we  passed  Cape 
Henry;  all  the  water  as  far  as  one  could  see  was 
covered  with  ships,  and  among  them  the  flower  of  the 
navy.  Commodore  James  Findlay  Schenck  com 
manded  the  third  division  of  the  fleet,  and  flew  his 
flag  on  the  Powhatan.  The  fleet  was  formed  in  three 
columns,  the  transports  and  storeships  in  the  centre. 

After  passing  Cape  Henry  we  experienced  beauti 
ful  weather,  and  got  around  Hatteras  in  almost  a  dead 
calm,  much  to  the  delight  of  the  troops,  who  were 
dreadfully  crowded  on  the  troopships.  On  December 
22d  the  fleet,  having  parted  company  with  the  trans 
ports,  anchored  in  column  thirteen  miles  off  the  mouth 
of  Cape  Fear  River,  and  then,  of  course,  we  knew  what 
we  had  in  hand.  That  afternoon  it  came  on  to  blow 
hard  from  southeast,  and  when  the  sun  went  down  the 
sight  was  a  grand  and  threatening  one.  The  seven 
monitors  at  the  head  of  the  column  held  on  well  at 
their  anchors,  but  would  disappear  entirely  from  sight 
as  the  heavy  seas  swept  over  them.  The  ships  soon 
began  to  drag,  and  all  hands  were  kept  on  deck  dur 
ing  the  entire  night,  ready  to  do  what  was  possible 
in  case  of  collision.  When  daylight  came  the  monitors 
were  still  in  place,  but  the  rest  of  the  fleet  was  scat 
tered  over  a  space  of  sixteen  miles,  and  nowhere  could 
we  make  out  a  single  transport.  At  sundown  of  the 
23d  the  fleet  was  again  anchored  in  good  condition, 
none  the  worse  for  the  shaking  up  it  had  had;  but  still 


The   Powder   Boat 

we  wondered  what  had  become  of  the  transports,  as 
none  of  them  showed  up.  It  turned  out  later  that 
they  were  safely  anchored  well  inshore  of  us,  waiting 
for  the  stragglers,  who  had  been  blown  out  of  place 
in  the  gale,  to  come  up. 

Before  leaving  Fortress  Monroe,  General  Butler  had 
proposed  a  "  powder  boat,"  by  the  explosion  of  which 
he  hoped  to  seriously  injure  the  forts  on  Federal  Point, 
including  Fort  Fisher.  Indeed,  he  was  confident  that 
he  would  dismount  most  of  the  guns  and  level  the 
works.  An  old  steamer,  the  Georgiana,  had  been 
loaded  with  several  hundred  tons  of  powder,  and 
turned  over  to  the  navy  to  explode  at  the  proper  spot. 
A  crew  of  volunteers,  commanded  by  Captain  A.  C. 
Rhind,  had  her  in  charge,  and  on  the  evening  of  De 
cember  24th  took  her  in  for  the  final  act  in  her  career. 
No  man  in  the  navy  believed  for  a  moment  that  she 
would  do  much  harm,  but  none  of  us  anticipated  how 
little  injury  would  come  from  the  explosion. 

At  eleven  o'clock  that  night  Admiral  Porter 
steamed  about  the  fleet  in  his  flagship,  the  side-wheeled 
steamer  Malvern,  and  made  signal:  "  Powder  boat 
will  blow  up  at  1.30  A.  M.  Be  prepared  to  get  under 
way,  and  stand  in  to  engage  the  fort ! "  After  that 
there  was  no  sleep  for  any  one;  we  stood  and  watched 
and  waited  as  the  hours  slowly  dragged  by.  Half 
past  one  came,  and  no  explosion,  and  we  were  fear 
ful  of  some  mishap:  but  just  as  the  bells  struck  two 
o'clock  it  came.  At  first  a  gentle  vibration,  then  the 
masts  and  spars  shook  as  if  they  would  come  down 
about  our  ears;  and  then  came  the  low  rumble  like  dis 
tant  thunder,  while  the  sky  to  the  westward  was 

77 


A  Sailor's  Log 

lighted  up  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  great  masses  of 
powder  smoke  hung  over  the  land  like  thunder  clouds. 
The  powder  boat  had  blown  up  surely,  and  as  the  fleet 
rapidly  formed  for  battle  there  was  great  curiosity 
everywhere  to  see  what  the  effect  had  been. 

At  daylight  we  were  heading  in  for  the  fort,  and 
almost  in  range,  when  we  saw  General  Butler's  flagship 
coming  in  at  full  speed,  heading  straight  at  Fort  Fisher, 
which  looked  to  us  very  grim  and  strong,  and  totally 
uninjured.  Everything  was  very  quiet  until  the  general 
got  fairly  within  range,  when  there  was  a  flash  from 
the  fort  and  a  prolonged  roar,  and  all  the  guns  on  that 
face  of  the  work  opened  on  his  ship.  If  he  had  had 
any  notion  that  he  could  land  unopposed  he  was 
quickly  undeceived,  and  the  way  that  ship  turned  and 
got  offshore  spoke  well  for  the  energy  of  her  fire- 
room  force!  The  last  we  saw  of  her  she  was  running 
east  as  fast  as  her  engines  could  carry  her.  The  pow 
der  boat  had  proved  a  failure,  and  the  general  was 
grievously  disappointed.  A  rebel  newspaper  reported 
that  a  Yankee  gunboat  had  blown  up  on  the  beach 
and  all  hands  lost. 

The  fleet  stood  on  in  column,  the  monitors  leading 
until  in  position,  when  the  leader  anchored;  and  then 
the  rest  anchored  in  succession  as  they  reached  their 
places.  It  was  a  beautiful  evolution  and  beautifully 
performed.  As  soon  as  the  monitors  came  in  range,  all 
the  guns  that  would  bear  opened  furiously;  and  as  the 
range  was  only  seven  hundred  yards,  the  hits  were  fre 
quent.  The  rebels  seemed  to  conclude  very  quickly 
that  they  could  do  nothing  with  the  ironclads,  so  they 
held  their  fire  for  the  wooden  ships.  Then  the  Minne- 

78 


The  Bombardment 

sota  took  her  place,  and  as  her  anchor  went  down  her 
batteries  opened,  first  a  broadside  from  the  spar  deck, 
and  then  her  gun-deck  broadside  roared  its  Christmas 
greeting.  At  the  same  moment  all  the  rebel  guns  re 
plied,  and  the  ship  was  completely  enveloped  in  the 
smoke  from  her  own  guns  and  the  bursting  rebel 
shells.  For  a  moment  it  looked  as  if  she  must  be  dis 
abled,  but  then  her  guns  began  to  speak  out  with  a 
welcome  sound,  and  we  knew  she  was  all  right.  The 
Wabash  and  the  Colorado  followed  the  Minnesota, 
and  quickly  dropped  into  their  places,  opening  as  they 
did  so  with  their  tremendous  batteries.  In  rapid  suc 
cession  each  vessel  of  the  fleet  passed  them  on  the  off 
side,  firing  through  the  intervals  between  them,  and 
thus  the  battle  line  was  formed.  At  times  the  shower 
of  shells  coming  over  the  vessels  engaged  gave  us  a 
foretaste  of  what  was  in  store  for  us,  but  the  losses  were 
wonderfully  few. 

Just  as  the  Powhatan  dropped  her  anchors  an 
incident  occurred  which  caused  much  bitter  com 
ment  afterward.  The  Brooklyn,  the  next  ship  to  us 
in  line,  was  commanded  by  Captain  James  Alden, 
whose  conduct  at  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay  had  not 
met  the  approval  of  Admiral  Farragut.  In  taking  his 
position  in  line  he  held  his  fire  until  his  anchor  was 
down,  when  he  fired  a  broadside  very  smartly,  which 
brought  from  the  admiral  the  signal,  "  Well  done, 
Brooklyn!"  the  only  signal  of  commendation  made 
during  the  fight.  The  general  feeling  was  that  it  was 
a  theatrical  performance,  and  that  the  signal  did  in 
justice  to  many  veteran  officers  who  had  handled  their 
ships  with  consummate  skill.  However,  the  signal  un- 

79 


A  Sailor's  Log 

doubtedly  went  far  toward  removing  the  stigma  of 
Mobile  Bay,  and  the  friends  of  Captain  Alden  rejoiced 
over  it. 

We  had  been  up,  many  of  us,  all  night,  and  our 
only  breakfast  had  been  coffee  and  hard-tack.  As  we 
approached  our  position  Commodore  Schenck  sent  me 
aloft  with  a  pair  of  glasses  to  locate,  if  possible,  some 
guns  that  were  annoying  him.  It  was  a  raw,  cold 
morning,  and  I  had  on  a  short  double-breasted  coat,  in 
the  pockets  of  which  I  had  stowed  several  pieces  of 
hard-tack.  When  I  had  taken  my  place  in  the  mizzen 
rigging,  just  below  the  top,  I  put  the  corner  of  a  hard 
tack  in  my  mouth,  and  was  holding  it  between  my 
teeth  while  I  took  a  look  through  the  glasses  for  the 
guns.  I  caught  them  at  once,  and  saw  gunners  train 
one  of  them  around  until  I  could  only  see  the  muzzle 
of  it,  which  interested  me,  because  I  knew  it  was  point 
ing  directly  at  us.  There  was  a  puff  of  smoke,  some 
thing  like  a  lamp-post  crossed  the  field  of  the  glass, 
and  a  moment  after  the  rigging  was  cut  four  feet  be 
low  me,  and  I  swung  into  the  mast.  I  at  once  thought 
of  my  hard-tack,  but  it  was  gone,  and  I  never  found 
even  a  crumb  of  it.  I  am  sure  that  I  swallowed  it 
whole.  When  I  had  reported  what  I  had  made  out  of 
the  battery  I  was  directed  to  lay  down  from  aloft  to 
my  station,  which  was  in  charge  of  the  after  division 
of  guns;  but  I  hesitated  to  do  so,  because  my  knees 
were  shaking,  and  I  was  afraid  the  men  would  see  it. 
However,  I  had  to  come  down,  and  as  soon  as  I  reached 
the  deck  I  stood  up  and  looked  at  my  legs,  and  was 
greatly  relieved  to  find  that  they  did  not  show  the 
nervous  tremor  that  worried  me  so.  I  soon  forgot  all 

80 


Under   Fire 

about  it  as  I  became  interested  and  warmed  up  to  my 
work. 

We  had  only  eighteen  inches  of  water  under  us 
when  we  finally  anchored  and  began  firing  rapidly  in 
obedience  to  signal  from  the  admiral.  There  was  a 
wreck  of  a  blockade  runner  between  us  and  the  bat 
tery  at  which  we  were  to  fire,  and  it  was  soon  evident 
that  this  had  been  used  as  a  target  and  the  range  was 
well  known.  One  or  two  shots  were  fired  in  line  with 
it,  each  one  coming  closer  to  us,  and  then  they  struck 
us  with  a  ten-inch  shot.  Four  more  followed,  each  one 
striking  nearly  in  the  same  place,  on  the  bends  for 
ward  of  the  starboard  wheel,  and  going  through  on  to 
the  berth  deck.  Then  for  some  reason  the  shot  and 
shell  began  going  over  us,  striking  the  water  thirty 
or  forty  feet  away.  Probably  the  gunners  on  shore 
could  not  see  the  splash  of  these  shots,  and  thought 
they  were  striking  us.  If  they  had  not  changed  their 
range  when  they  did  they  would  have  sunk  us  in  an 
hour.  As  it  was,  we  hauled  out  at  sundown  pretty 
well  hammered,  and  leaking  so  that  we  had  to  shift 
all  our  guns  to  port  in  order  to  stop  the  shot  holes. 

We  had  damaged  the  fort  to  the  extent  of  dis 
mounting  some  of  the  guns  and  burning  the  barracks 
and  officers'  quarters.  When  the  whole  line  was  fairly 
engaged  the  sight  was  magnificent,  and  never  to  be  for 
gotten  by  those  who  saw  it.  No  fort  had  ever  before 
been  subjected  to  such  a  fire,  and  the  garrison  could 
only  make  a  feeble  response;  most  of  them  were  driven 
into  the  bombproofs,  where  they  remained  until  we 
hauled  off  for  the  night.  The  heaviest  losses  on  our 
side  had  been  caused  by  the  bursting  of  the  one-hun- 

81 


A  Sailor's  Log 

dred-pound  Parrott  rifles;  thirty-five  or  forty  men  had 
been  killed  or  wounded  in  this  way. 

The  transports  in  the  meantime  were  got  together, 
and  while  a  slow,  steady  fire  was  kept  up  on  the  forts 
by  the  monitors  and  a  portion  of  the  fleet,  the  rest 
of  us  devoted  our  energies  to  getting  the  troops  on 
shore.  The  weather  was  favourable  for  the  purpose, 
and  in  one  day  and  night  we  landed  General  Butler 
and  his  thirteen  thousand  soldiers  with  their  ammuni 
tion  and  stores.  Then  for  two  days  more  we  ham 
mered  away  at  the  fort,  expecting  every  hour  to  see 
them  carried  by  the  army;  but  we  were  not  to  have 
that  pleasure.  Some  officers  and  men  did  get  very 
near  the  fort,  but,  without  making  the  effort,  the  gen 
eral  decided  that  the  works  had  not  been  seriously 
damaged  as  defensive  works,  and  were  too  strong  to 
be  carried  by  assault.  He  therefore  asked  that  we  re- 
embark  his  men,  which  we  did,  and  he  sailed  for  the 
North.  So  ended  the  first  attack  on  Fort  Fisher, 
which  had  promised  so  much  to  the  national  cause. 


82 


CHAPTER  VIII 

» 

THE   ASSAULT   ON   FORT   FISHER 

ADMIRAL  PORTER  was  not  willing  to  give  up  so 
easily,  and  on  his  representations,  concurred  in  by 
General  Grant,  the  second  expedition  was  organized. 
The  fleet  was  ordered  to  Beaufort,  North  Carolina, 
and  such  vessels  as  could  do  so  entered  the  harbour; 
the  rest  anchored  outside,  and  all  hands  worked  day 
and  night  coaling  and  filling  up  with  ammunition  and 
stores.  Any  one  who  has  served  on  that  coast  in  the 
winter  months  will  know  the  difficulties  with  which 
we  had  to  contend;  to  those  who  have  not,  no  ade 
quate  idea  can  be  given.  Gales  of  wind  were  of  almost 
constant  occurrence,  and,  as  we  were  in  the  open 
sea,  the  vessels  rolled  so  that  frequently  we  had  to  use 
life  lines  on  our  decks  to  prevent  the  men  from  being 
washed  overboard.  On  many  occasions  vessels  had  to 
slip  their  cables  and  go  to  sea  to  ride  out  the  storms. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  in  two  weeks  we  were 
ready  to  try  it  again,  and  this  time  success  seemed  to  be 
in  the  air.  That  gallant  soldier,  General  Alfred  Terry, 
was  in  command  of  the  army  contingent;  his  men  were 
enthusiastic  and  anxious  for  the  fight,  and  he  and  Ad 
miral  Porter  were  working  in  harmony — a  fact  of  itself 
promising  the  very  best  results.  It  was  agreed  be- 

83 


A  Sailor's  Log 

tween  the  commanders  that  a  naval  brigade  should  be 
landed  to  assist  the  army  in  the  assault,  by  attacking 
the  sea  face  of  the  fort,  while  the  army  went  in  on  the 
northwest  angle.  Volunteers  were  called  for  from  the 
navy  for  this  service,  and  it  was  gratifying  to  see  the 
officers  and  men  come  forward,  almost  in  a  body,  for 
a  job  they  knew  would  be  a  desperate  one.  So  many 
volunteered  that  finally  a  detail  had  to  be  made  from 
each  ship,  and  there  were  many  sorely  disappointed 
ones  when  the  names  were  published. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  officer  of  the  deck 
when  the  order  came  on  board  directing  the  move 
ment,  and  so  I  had  my  name  put  first  on  the  list  of 
those  who  volunteered.  At  this  time  there  were  four 
classmates  on  board — Harris,  Kellogg,  Morris,  and 
Evans.  All  volunteered,  and  as  only  two  could  go, 
we  agreed  that  Harris  and  Kellogg,  being  in  the  first 
section  of  the  class,  should  have  one  chance  between 
them,  and  Morris  and  I  being  in  the  second  section, 
should  have  the  other  chance.  Harris  won  his  chance 
on  the  toss  of  a  penny;  but  I,  being  a  Virginian  and 
having  no  particular  family  ties,  insisted  that  I  should 
go  rather  than  Morris,  who  came  from  New  York  and 
would  be  sadly  missed  if  he  were  killed.  To  all  of  this 
Morris  naturally  objected,  and  we  seemed  a  long  way 
from  any  conclusion,  when  he  suggested  that  we  leave 
the  selection  to  Lieutenant-Commander  George  Bache, 
who  was  to  command  the  men  from  the  Powhatan, 
which  was  done,  and  Bache  selected  me. 

January  I3th  found  us  again  in  front  of  Fort 
Fisher,  and  this  time  we  came  to  stay.  The  fleet 
opened  on  the  fort,  and  kept  up  a  constant  and  accu- 

84 


The   Landing 

rate  fire.  We  soon  found  a  great  difference  in  the  gar 
rison  from  the  one  we  had  fought  in  the  first  attack. 
They  stood  up  and  fought  their  guns  most  gallantly, 
and  would  not  be  driven  into  the  bombproofs.  A 
division  of  gunboats  was  sent  close  in  to  cover  the 
landing  of  the  troops,  which  was  done  by  the  boats  of 
the  fleet  in  a  sea  heavy  enough  to  make  care  necessary. 
I  was  in  charge  of  the  commodore's  barge,  a  very 
handsome,  large,  able  boat,  fit  to  carry  thirty-five  or 
forty  men.  We  made  the  first  landing  with  over  two 
hundred  boats,  and  the  sight  was  a  notable  one  as  we 
pulled  in,  an  occasional  shell  splashing  among  us,  and 
the  bullets  spluttering  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 

As  soon  as  the  order  was  given  to  land  we  went  for 
the  beach  at  full  speed,  and,  after  passing  the  first 
breakers,  turned  our  boats  and  backed  them  in  until  our 
passengers  could  land  almost  with  dry  feet  but  to  get 
them  out  of  the  boats  at  the  right  moment  was  almost 
impossible.  They  would  wait  too  long,  and  as  a  result 
most  of  them  were  rolled  up  on  the  beach  by  the  surf, 
soaking  wet.  But  once  on  shore  it  was  glorious  to 
see  how  they  knew  their  business  and  the  way  they 
did  it.  As  soon  as  they  got  their  feet  they  spread  out 
into  a  skirmish  line,  and  the  rifles  began  to  crack. 
When  I  came  in  with  the  second  load  those  on  shore 
had  captured  some  cattle,  and  were  skinning  them, 
and  did  not  seem  the  least  bit  worried  by  the  fire  of 
the  skirmishers,  only  three  or  four  hundred  yards 
away.  Before  dark  we  had  all  the  men  landed,  and 
enough  ammunition  and  stores  to  make  them  safe  and 
comfortable  in  case  it  should  come  on  to  blow.  Dur 
ing  the  night  we  completed  the  landing  of  stores  and 
7  85 


A  Sailor's  Log 

supplies  and  some  thirty-pound  Parrott  guns,  which 
were  immediately  put  in  position  facing  General 
Bragg,  who  was  coming  from  the  direction  of  Wil 
mington  to  re-enforce  the  garrison  of  Fort  Fisher.  The 
bombardment  was  kept  up  during  the  I4th,  while  the 
army  got  into  position  for  the  assault,  which  had  been 
fixed  for  the  afternoon  of  the  I5th. 

The  premonitions  that  men  have  before  going  into 
battle  are  very  curious  and  interesting,  particularly 
when  they  come  true.  We  had  on  board  the  Pow- 
hatan  a  fine  young  seaman  named  Flannigan,  who 
came  from  Philadelphia.  On  the  night  of  the  I4th  of 
January  he  came  to  my  room  with  a  small  box  in  his 
hand,  and  said  to  me,  "  Mr.  Evans,  will  you  be  kind 
enough  to  take  charge  of  this  box  for  me — it  has  some 
little  trinkets  in  it — and  give  it  to  my  sister  in  Phila 
delphia?  "  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  deliver  it  him 
self,  to  which  he  replied,  "  I  am  going  ashore  with  you 
to-morrow,  and  will  be  killed."  I  told  him  how  many 
bullets  it  required  to  kill  a  man  in  action,  and  in  other 
ways  tried  to  shake  his  conviction,  but  it  was  no  use — 
he  stuck  to  it.  He  showed  no  nervousness  over  it,  but 
seemed  to  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  I  took  the 
box  and,  after  making  a  proper  memorandum,  put  it 
away  among  my  things.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  next 
day,  when  we  were  charging  the  fort  and  just  as  we 
came  under  fire,  at  about  eight  hundred  yards,  I  saw 
Flannigan  reel  out  to  one  side  and  drop,  the  first  man 
hit,  with  a  bullet  through  his  heart.  I  stepped  quickly 
to  his  side  and  asked  if  he  were  badly  hurt;  the  only 
reply  was  a  smile  as  he  looked  up  into  my  face  and 
rolled  over  dead.  The  box  was  delivered  as  he  re- 

86 


Ready   to   Attack 

quested,  and  I  afterward  assisted  in  getting  a  pension 
for  his  sister. 

January  I5th  proved  a  beautiful  day  for  our  work, 
clear  and  warm  enough,  with, a  smooth  beach  for  our 
landing.  At  early  daylight  the  whole  fleet  opened  on 
the  fort,  and  poured  shells  in  on  it  at  a  fearful 
rate.  After  a  hasty  dinner  at  noon  the  signal  was 
made  at  one  o'clock,  "  Land  naval  brigade."  In  a  few 
minutes  we  were  off,  cheered  by  our  shipmates,  and 
pulling  for  the  shore,  where  we  landed  unopposed  and 
without  serious  accident,  about  one  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  northeast  angle  of  Fort  Fisher.  On  the  way 
ashore  some  evilly  disposed  person  fired  a  shot  at  us, 
which  struck  the  stroke  oar  of  my  boat,  cut  it  in  two, 
and  sent  the  handle  spinning  across  my  stomach  with 
such  force  that  I  thought  I  was  broken  in  two.  On 
landing  we  were  quickly  formed  in  three  divisions,  with 
the  marine  battalion  in  the  lead. 

During  the  forenoon  a  force  of  firemen  had  landed 
under  Lieutenant  Preston  to  dig  rifle  pits,  well  to 
the  front,  and  these  were  to  be  occupied  by  the 
marines,  who  were  to  keep  down  the  rebel  fire  until 
the  sailors,  armed  with  cutlass  and  revolver,  reached 
the  parapet.  When  the  divisions  were  formed,  we 
advanced  until  we  reached  a  point  about  twelve  hun 
dred  yards  from  the  fort,  where  we  halted  and 
waited  the  signal  to  charge,  which  was  to  be  the 
blowing  of  the  steam  whistle  on  the  flagship,  repeated 
by  other  vessels  of  the  fleet.  All  the  guns  that  we 
could  see  had  been  dismounted  or  disabled  in  the 
bombardment,  but  after  we  landed  there  was  one 
large  rifle  that  opened  on  us  and  did  some  damage. 

87 


A  Sailor's  Log 

The  shells  generally  struck  short  of  us,  and  would  then 
ricochet  down  the  level  beach,  jumping  along  for  all 
the  world  like  rabbits.  To  avoid  this  shell  fire  the 
divisions  had  been  marched  by  the  flank  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  what  shelter  the  slope  of  the  beach  offered. 
It  thus  happened  that  the  three  divisions  forged  up 
abreast  of  each  other,  and  we  charged  in  this  forma 
tion — three  columns  abreast,  the  marines  leading. 
While  we  were  waiting  for  the  army  to  report  ready, 
our  men  had  a  good  rest,  and  seemed  to  be  in  excel 
lent  spirits.  The  rebels  were  firing  at  us  slowly,  but 
doing  no  damage  to  speak  of.  Curious  little  puffs  of 
sand  showed  where  the  Enfield  rifle  balls  were  striking, 
but  they  only  hit  a  man  now  and  then  by  accident. 

At  three  o'clock  the  order  to  charge  was  given, 
and  we  started  for  our  long  run  of  twelve  hundred 
yards  over  the  loose  sand.  The  fleet  kept  up  a  hot 
fire  until  we  approached  within  about  six  hundred 
yards  of  the  fort,  and  then  ceased  firing.  The  rebels 
seemed  to  understand  our  signals,  and  almost  before 
the  last  gun  was  fired  manned  the  parapet  and  opened 
on  us  with  twenty-six  hundred  muskets.  The  army 
had  not  yet  assaulted,  so  the  whole  garrison  concen 
trated  its  fire  on  us.  Under  the  shower  of  bullets  the 
marines  broke  before  reaching  the  rifle  pits  that  had 
been  dug  for  them,  and  did  not  appear  again  as  an 
organization  in  the  assault.  Most  of  the  men  and  many 
of  the  officers  mixed  in  with  the  column  of  sailors,  and 
went  on  with  them.  About  five  hundred  yards  from  the 
fort  the  head  of  the  column  suddenly  stopped,  and,  as 
if  by  magic,  the  whole  mass  of  men  went  down  like  a 
row  of  falling  bricks;  in  a  second  every  man  was  flat  on 

88 


A   Bloody  Assault 

his  stomach.  The  officers  called  on  the  men,  and  they 
responded  instantly,  starting  forward  as  fast  as  they 
could  go.  At  about  three  hundred  yards  they  again 
went  down,  this  time  under  the  effect  of  canister  added 
to  the  rifle  fire.  Again  we  rallied  them,  and  once 
more  started  to  the  front  under  a  perfect  hail  of  lead, 
with  men  dropping  rapidly  in  every  direction.  We 
were  now  so  close  that  we  could  hear  the  voices  of  the 
rebels,  and  what  they  said  need  'hot  be  written  here. 
The  officers  were  pulling  their  caps  down  over  their 
eyes,  for  it  was  almost  impossible  to  look  at  the  deadly 
flashing  blue  line  of  parapet,  and  we  all  felt  that  in  a 
few  minutes  more  we  should  get  our  cutlasses  to  work 
and  make  up  for  the  fearful  loss  we  had  suffered. 

At  this  moment  I  saw  Colonel  Lamb,  the  Confed 
erate  commander,  gallantly  standing  out  on  the  parapet 
and  calling  on  his  men  to  get  up  and  shoot  the  Yankees. 
I  considered  him  within  range  of  revolver,  so  took  a 
deliberate  shot  at  him.  As  I  fired,  a  bullet  ripped 
through  the  front  of  my  coat  across  my  breast,  turn 
ing  me  completely  around.  I  felt  a  burning  sensation, 
like  a  hot  iron,  over  my  heart,  and  saw  something  red 
coming  out  of  the  hole  in  my  coat  which  I  took  for 
blood.  I  knew,  of  course,  that  if  a  bullet  had  gone 
through  this  portion  of  my  body  I  was  done  for;  but 
that  was  no  place  to  stop,  so  I  went  on  at  the  head 
of  my  company.  As  we  approached  the  remains  of 
the  stockade  I  was  aware  that  one  particular  sharp 
shooter  was  shooting  at  me,  and  when  we  were  a 
hundred  yards  away  he  hit  me  in  the  left  leg,  about 
three  inches  below  the  knee.  The  force  of  the  blow 
was  so  great  that  I  landed  on  my  face  in  the  sand.  I 

89 


A  Sailor's  Log 

got  a  silk  handkerchief  out  of  my  pocket,  and  with 
the  kind  assistance  of  my  classmate,  Hoban  Sands, 
soon  stopped  the  blood,  and  again  went  to  the  front 
as  fast  as  I  could. 

About  this  time  the  men  were  stumbling  over  wires 
which  they  cut  with  their  knives — they  proved  to  be 
wires  to  the  torpedoes  over  which  we  had  charged,  but 
they  failed  to  explode.  My  left  leg  seemed  asleep,  but 
I  was  able  to  use  it.  The  stockade,  or  what  remained 
of  it,  was  very  near,  and  I  determined  to  lead  my  com 
pany  by  the  flank  through  a  break  in  it,  and  then 
charge  over  the  angle  of  the  fort,  which  now  looked 
very  difficult  to  climb.  I  managed  to  get  through  the 
stockade  with  seven  others,  when  my  sharpshooter 
friend  sent  a  bullet  through  my  right  knee,  and  I 
realized  that  my  chance  of  going  was  settled.  I  tried 
to  stand  up,  but  it  was  no  use;  my  legs  would  not  hold 
me,  and  besides  this  I  was  bleeding  dreadfully,  and  I 
knew  that  was  a  matter  which  had  to  be  looked  to. 
I  heard  some  one  say,  "They  are  retreating!"  and 
looking  back  I  saw  our  men  breaking  from  the  rear  of 
the  columns  and  retreating.  All  the  officers,  in  their 
anxiety  to  be  the  first  into  the  fort,  had  advanced  to 
the  heads  of  the  columns,  leaving  no  one  to  steady  the 
men  in  behind;  and  it  was  in  this  way  we  were  de 
feated,  by  the  men  breaking  from  the  rear.  Two  min 
utes  more  and  we  should  have  been  on  the  parapet, 
and  then — nobody  can  even  guess  what  would  have 
happened,  but  surely  a  dreadful  loss  of  life.  As  the 
men  retreated  down  the  beach  they  were  gathered  up 
and  put  into  the  trenches  to  oppose  Bragg,  and  there 
served  until  after  the  fort  was  captured.  Of  the  eight  of 

90 


A   Duel   to   the   Death 

us  who  went  inside  the  stockade  all  were  shot  down; 
one,  the  colour  bearer  of  my  company,  was  halfway 
up  the  parapet  when  he  received  his  death  wound. 

When  I  received  the  wound  in  my  right  knee  I 
began  at  once  to  try  to  stop  the  flow  of  blood.  I  used 
for  the  purpose  one  of  the  half  dozen  silk  handkerchiefs 
with  which  I  had  provided  myself,  but  I  was  so  tired 
and  weak  from  loss  of  blood  that  I  was  some  time 
doing  the  trick.  In  the  meantime  my  sharpshooter 
friend,  about  thirty-five  yards  away,  continued  to 
shoot  at  me,  at  the  same  time  addressing  me  in  very 
forcible  but  uncomplimentary  language.  At  the  fifth 
shot,  I  think  it  was,  he  hit  me  again,  taking  off  the 
end  of  one  of  my  toes,  tearing  off  the  sole  of  my  shoe, 
and  wrenching  my  ankle  dreadfully.  I  thought  the 
bullet  had  gone  through  my  ankle,  the  pain  was  so  in 
tense.  For  some  reason,  I  don't  know  why,  this  shot 
made  me  unreasonably  angry,  and,  rolling  over  in  the 
sand  so  as  to  face  my  antagonist,  I  addressed  a  few 
brief  remarks  to  him;  and  then,  just  as  some  one 
handed  him  a  freshly  loaded  musket,  I  fired,  aiming  at 
his  breast.  I  knew  all  the  time  that  I  should  kill  him 
if  I  shot  at  him,  but  had  not  intended  to  do  so  until 
he  shot  me  in  the  toe.  My  bullet  went  a  little  high, 
striking  the  poor  chap  in  the  throat  and  passing  out 
at  the  back  of  his  neck.  He  staggered  around,  after 
dropping  his  gun,  and  finally  pitched  over  the  parapet 
and  rolled  down  near  me,  where  he  lay  dead.  I  could 
see  his  feet  as  they  projected  over  a  pile  of  sand,  and 
from  their  position  knew  that  he  had  fought  his  last 
fight.  Near  me  was  lying  the  cockswain  of  my  boat, 
Campbell  by  name,  who  had  a  canister  ball  through 


A  Sailor's  Log 

his  lungs,  and  was  evidently  bleeding  to  death.  When 
he  saw  the  result  of  my  shot  he  said,  "  Mr.  Evans,  let 

me  crawl  over  and  give  that another  shot." 

He  was  dead  almost  before  I  could  tell  him  that  the 
poor  fellow  did  not  require  any  further  attention 
from  us. 

One  of  the  marines  from  the  Powhatan,  a  splen 
did  fellow  named  Wasmouth,  came  through  the  stock 
ade,  quickly  gathered  me  up  under  one  arm,  and  be 
fore  the  sharpshooters  could  hit  him  laid  me  down  in 
a  place  of  comparative  safety;  but  a  moment  afterward 
the  fleet  opened  fire  again,  and  the  shells  from  the 
New  Ironsides  and  the  monitors  began  falling  danger 
ously  near  us.  Occasionally  one  would  strike  short  and, 
exploding,  send  great  chunks  of  mud  and  pieces  of  log 
flying  in  all  directions.  Wasmouth  again  picked  me 
up,  and,  after  carrying  me  about  fifty  yards,  dropped 
me  into  a  pit  made  by  a  large  shell.  Here  I  was  en 
tirely  protected  from  the  rebel  fire,  and  several  times 
called  to  him  to  take  cover,  but  he  said  each  time, 
"  The  bullet  has  not  been  made  that  will  kill  me."  I 
was  very  drowsy  and  almost  asleep  when  I  heard  the 
peculiar  thug  of  a  pullet,  and  looking  up,  found  poor 
Wasmouth  with  his  hand  to  his  neck,  turning  round 
and  round,  and  the  blood  spurting  out  in  a  steady 
stream.  The  bullet  had  gone  through  his  neck,  cut 
ting  the  jugular,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  dropped  in 
the  edge  of  the  surf  and  bled  to  death.  He  certainly 
was  an  honour  to  his  uniform. 

Just  as  our  men  began  to  break,  the  army  made 
their  charge,  and  were  able  to  make  a  lodgment  on 
the  northwest  portion  of  the  works  before  the  rebels, 

92 


Helpless   from   Wounds 

who  had  taken  us  for  the  main  assaulting  column,  saw 
them.  When  they  discovered  them,  however,  they 
went  at  them  with  a  savage  yell,  and  for  seven  hours 
fought  them  desperately,  the  same  bombproof  in  sev 
eral  cases  being  captured  and  recaptured  five  or  six 
times.  A  number  of  sharpshooters  remained  on  the 
sea  face  and  northeast  angle,  and  shot  at  every  mov 
ing  thing.  No  doubt  this  was  owing  to  the  fact  that 
quite  a  number  of  marines  were  scattered  about  the 
beach  wherever  they  could  find  cover,  keeping  up  a 
steady  fire. 

After  Wasmouth  was  killed  I  soon  fell  asleep,  and 
when  I  awoke  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  recall 
my  surroundings.  The  tide  had  come  in,  and  the  hole 
in  which  I  was  lying  was  nearly  full  of  water,  which 
had  about  covered  me  and  was  trickling  into  my  ears. 
I  could  see  a  monitor  firing,  and  apparently  very  near, 
and  the  thought  came  to  me  that  I  could  swim  off  to 
her  if  I  only  had  a  bit  of  plank  or  driftwood,  but  this 
I  could  not  get.  It  was  plain  enough  that  I  should 
soon  be  drowned  like  a  rat  in  a  hole  unless  I  managed 
to  get  out  somehow.  Dead  and  wounded  men  were 
lying  about  in  ghastly  piles,  but  no  one  to  lend  me  a 
helping  hand.  By  this  time  I  could  not  use  my  legs 
in  any  way,  and  when  I  dug  my  hands  into  the  sid,es  of 
my  prison  and  tried  to  pull  myself  out  the  sand  gave 
way  and  left  me  still  lying  in  the  water.  Finally,  I 
made  a  strong  effort,  and  rolled  myself  sideways  out 
of  the  hole.  When  I  got  out  I  saw  a  marine  a  short 
distance  away,  nicely  covered  by  a  pile  of  sand,  and 
firing  very  deliberately  at  the  fort.  I  called  to  him 
to  pull  me  in  behind  his  pile  of  sand,  but  he  declined, 

93 


A  Sailor's  Log 

on  the  ground  that  the  rebel  fire  was  too  sharp  for 
him  to  expose  himself.  I  persuaded  him  with  my  re 
volver  to  change  his  mind,  and  in  two  seconds  he  had 
me  in  a  place  of  safety — that  is  to  say,  safe  by  a  small 
margin,  for  when  he  fired,  the  rebel  bullets  would  snip 
the  sand  within  a  few  inches  of  our  heads.  If  the 
marine  had  known  that  my  revolver  was  soaking  wet, 
and  could  not  possibly  be  fired,  I  suppose  I  should 
have  been  buried  the  next  morning,  as  many  other 
poor  fellows  were.  As  soon  as  I  could  reach  some  car 
tridges  from  a  dead  sailor  lying  near  me  I  loaded  my 
revolver,  thinking  it  might  be  useful  before  the  job 
was  finished. 

When  I  was  jerked  in  behind  this  pile  of  sand, 
I  landed  across  the  body  of  the  only  coward  I  ever 
saw  in  the  naval  service.  At  first  I  was  not  conscious 
that  there  was  a  man  under  me,  so  completely 
had  he  worked  himself  into  the  sand;  he  was  actu 
ally  below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  monitors 
were  firing  over  us,  and  as  a  shell  came  roaring  by 
he  pulled  his  knees  up  to  his  chin,  which  hurt  me, 
as  it  jostled  my  broken  legs.  I  said,  "  Hello!  are  you 
wounded?  "  "  No,  sir,"  he  replied;  "  I  am  afraid  to 
move."  "All  right,  then,"  I  said;  "keep  quiet,  and 
don't  hurt  my  legs  again!  "  The  next  shell  that  came 
over  he  did  the  same  thing,  and  the  next,  notwith 
standing  my  repeated  cautions.  So  I  tapped  him  be 
tween  the  eyes  with  the  butt  of  my  revolver,  and  he 
was  quiet  after  that.  The  poor  creature  was  so  scared 
that  he  would  lie  still  and  cry  as  the  shells  flew  over 
us.  As  I  said  before,  he  was  the  only  coward  I  ever 
saw  in  the  naval  service. 

94 


I  persuaded  him  with   n?y  revolver  to  change  his  mind. 


A   Desperate   Battle 

From  my  new  position  I  could  see  the  army  slowly 
fighting  its  way  from  one  gun  to  another,  and  it  was 
a  magnificent  sight.  They  knew  their  business  thor 
oughly,  these  gallant  fellows  from  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  in  the  end,  at  ten  o'clock  that  night, 
won  a  victory  that  will  live  as  long  as  heroic  deeds  are 
recorded.  I  can  recall  to  this  day  the  splendid  courage 
of  General  Curtis,  leading  his  brigade;  he  seemed  to 
stand  head  and  shoulders  above  those  around  him; 
and  while  I  looked  at  him  he  went  down,  but  was  soon 
on  his  feet,  only  to  go  down  a  second  time,  shot  in  the 
eye.  As  darkness  approached  and  the  cold  began  to 
be  felt,  our  men  seemed  to  fight  with  more  desperate 
determination,  and  the  advance  was  more  rapid.  The 
Confederates  were  doing,  and  had  done,  all  that  human 
courage  could  do,  but  they  were  wearing  out,  and 
the  arrival  of  fresh  brigades  on  our  side  discouraged 
them. 

The  scene  on  the  beach  at  this  time  was  a  pitiful 
one — dead  and  wounded  officers  and  men  as  far  as  one 
could  see.  As  a  rule,  they  lay  quiet  on  the  sand  and 
took  their  punishment  like  the  brave  lads  they  were, 
but  occasionally  the  thirst  brought  on  by  loss  of  blood 
was  more  than  they  could  bear,  and  a  sound-wave 
would  drift  along,  "  Water,  water,  water!  "  and  then 
all  would  be  quiet  again.  It  was  one  of  the  worst  of 
the  awful  features  of  war.  Just  as  the  sun  went  down, 
and  it  did  seem  to  go  very  slowly  that  afternoon,  I  saw 
an  officer  coming  up  the  beach  dressed  in  an  overcoat 
and  wearing  side  arms.  As  he  approached  me  I  rec 
ognised  Dr.  Longstreet,  and  begged  him  to  lie  down, 
as  the  bullets  were  singing  around  his  head.  He  took 

95 


A  Sailor's  Log 

a  canteen  off  a  dead  marine  and  gave  me  a  swallow  of 
sand  and  water,  and  did  the  same  for  another  wounded 
man.  Then,  turning  his  face  toward  me,  he  said,  "  We 
will  have  you  all  off  the  beach  to-night,"  and  was  mov 
ing  on  to  the  front,  when  a  bullet  struck  him  in  the 
forehead.  He  sprang  several  feet  in  the  air,  fell  at  full 
length  on  his  back,  and  lay  quite  still  and  dead.  His 
resignation  had  been  accepted  a  week  before,  and  as 
soon  as  this  fight  was  done  he  was  going  home  to 
Norfolk  to  be  married. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Longstreet  I  saw  another 
man  coming  toward  me;  but  he  was  taking  advantage 
of  all  the  cover  he  could  get,  and  arrived  without  acci 
dent.  He  was  a  fireman  from  the  gunboat  Chicopee, 
and  said  he  had  come  after  me,  but  had  only  a  coal- 
shovel  with  which  to  aid  me.  He  said  if  I  could  sit 
in  the  coal-shovel  he  could  drag  me  off!  The  twilight 
was  deepening,  and  it  seemed  improbable  that  a  sharp 
shooter  could  hit  either  of  us,  so  I  managed  to  get 
seated  on  the  shovel,  and  the  fireman,  with  both  hands 
behind  him  on  the  handle,  started  to  pull  me  off,  but 
had  only  gone  a  few  steps  when  a  bullet  struck  him, 
passing  through  both  arms  below  the  elbows.  That 
ended  my  trip  on  a  coal-shovel,  and  I  spent  the  time 
until  dark  making  my  friend  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
Then  I  heard  some  one  calling  my  name,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  two  men  came  who  said  Captain  Gushing  had 
sent  them  to  find  me  and  bring  me  off.  They  had  only 
their  hands,  but  they  used  them  most  willingly  and 
tenderly.  One  would  put  me  on  his  back  and  carry 
me,  while  the  other  held  me  on.  When  the  first  one 
was  tired,  the  two  would  change  places;  and  thus  I 

96 


Care   of  the   Wounded 

was  carried,  shot  through  both  legs,  a  distance  of  a 
mile  and  a  half. 

The  outfit  for  the  care  and  comfort  of  the  wounded 
consisted  of  a  large  fire  made  of  cracker  boxes  and 
driftwood,  a  fair  supply  of  very  bad  whisky,  and  a  num 
ber  of  able  and  intelligent  medical  officers.  To  the 
vicinity  of  this  blazing  fire  I,  among  a  large  number 
of  wounded  men,  was  carried,  and  stretched  out  on  a 
piece  of  plank  with  my  head  on  a  cracker  box,  where 
I  enjoyed  the  warmth,  which  was  very  grateful  in  the 
chill  of  the  January  evening.  My  clothing  was  satu 
rated  with  blood  and  salt  water,  and  thoroughly  filled 
with  sand.  My  wounds  were  in  the  same  condition. 
A  rebel  gunboat  in  the  bayou  back  of  the  fort  was 
using  our  fire  as  a  target,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
landing  a  shell  fairly  in  the  middle  of  it,  much  to  our 
discomfort.  When  the  shell  exploded  several  men 
were  killed,  and  the  fire  blown  about  over  the  rest  of 
us.  The  doctor  finally  got  to  me,  and  after  cutting 
off  my  trousers  and  drawers  well  up  on  my  thighs,  split 
them  down  the  sides  and  threw  them  into  the  fire. 
Then  he  ran  a  probe,  first  through  one  hole,  then  the 
other,  said  I  was  badly  wounded,  gave  me  a  stiff  glass 
of  grog,  and  passed  on  to  the  next  man,  leaving  me 
practically  naked.  A  brother  officer,  seeing  my  con 
dition,  took  the  cape  off  his  overcoat  and  wrapped 
it  about  my  legs,  and  this,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
grog,  soon  made  me  very  comfortable. 

About  half  past  nine  that  night  Captain  Breese, 
who  commanded  the  brigade,  succeeded  in  getting  a 
lifeboat  in  through  the  heavy  surf  breaking  on  the 
beach,  and  at  once  wounded  officers  were  tumbled  into 

97 


A  Sailor's  Log 

her,  while  the  crew  stood  in  the  water  holding  her 
head  on  to  the  seas.  My  turn  came  at  last,  and  two 
friends  landed  me  in  the  boat  with  my  legs  hanging 
over  the  stern;  then  the  crew  jumped  in,  the  cockswain 
sat  down  calmly  on  my  knees,  gave  the  men  the  word, 
and  out  we  went  through  the  surf  in  beautiful  style. 
The  boat  was  from  the  gunboat  Nereus,  Captain 
Howell  commanding,  and  to  her  we  were  taken.  We 
found  her  rolling  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  but  the 
officer  of  the  deck  had  all  preparations  made,  and  we 
were  quickly  hoisted  up  to  the  davits,  and  willing 
hands  soon  transferred  us  to  the  deck.  Just  as  they 
were  putting  me  on  a  cot,  before  taking  me  below,  I 
saw  a  signal  torch  on  the  parapet  of  the  fort  calling 
the  flagship,  and  a  moment  later  I  read  this  signal: 
"  The  fort  is  O  U  R— "  and  then  everything  broke 
loose!  Nobody  waited  for  the  completion  of  the  sig 
nal;  all  hands  knew  what  that  last  letter  would  be. 
There  was  a  great  burst  of  rockets  and  blue  lights, 
and  the  men  manning  the  rigging  cheered  as  the  guns 
roared  with  saluting  charges.  Long  after  I  was  com 
fortably  swung  in  the  wardroom  I  could  hear  the  fleet 
rejoicing  over  the  downfall  of  the  great  rebel  strong 
hold. 

The  officers  of  the  Nereus,  from  the  captain  down, 
spent  the  night  doing  all  in  their  power  to  make 
us  comfortable.  We  had  a  good  supply  of  whisky 
and  a  pitcher  of  morphine  and  water,  and  they  gave  us 
plenty  of  both.  Shortly  after  daylight  signal  was  made 
to  transfer  all  wounded  men  on  board  to  the  Santiago 
de  Cuba,  and  for  vessels  having  dead  on  board  to  hoist 
colours  at  half-mast.  I  shall  never  forget  the  sight 

98 


The   Aftermath   of  Battle 

that  greeted  me  when  I  was  carried  on  deck  to  be  put 
in  the  boat.  The  fleet  lay  just  in  the  position  in  which 
it  had  fought  the  day  before,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
every  ship  had  her  flag  at  half-mast  lazily  flapping  in 
the  drizzling  rain.  The  weather  was  cold  and  raw,  and 
all  our  wounds  were  stiff  and  sore,  and  every  move 
ment  of  those  helping  us  caused  indescribable  suffer 
ing.  In  the  excitement  of  the  charge,  getting  wounded 
was  fun,  but  we  had  a  different  problem  to  solve,  and 
it  required  real  nerve  to  face  it. 


99 


CHAPTER  IX 

EXPERIENCES    OF   A   CONVALESCENT 

THE  Santiago  de  Cuba  was  soon  loaded  to  her 
utmost  capacity,  and  early  in  the  forenoon  we  started 
for  Norfolk,  Virginia.  My  friends  Kellogg  and  Mor 
ris  had  kindly  packed  all  my  traps  for  me,  and  sent 
them  on  board  so  that  I  had  a  change  of  linen.  The 
officers  of  the  ship  devoted  themselves  entirely  to  our 
comfort.  Lieutenant-Commander  Farquhar,  the  ex 
ecutive  officer,  put  four  of  us  in  his  room  and  made  us 
feel  that  everything  he  had  belonged  to  us.  If  we  had 
been  his  own  brothers  he  could  not  have  treated  us 
with  greater  kindness.  Before  we  passed  Hatteras  the 
fresh  water  ran  low,  and  we  had  to  drink  warm  water 
from  the  distillers,  but  we  regarded  that  as  a  small 
matter  so  long  as  we  could  have  a  drop  of  whisky 
with  it. 

The  chaplain  was  a  good  soul,  and  was  unremit 
ting  in  his  attentions  to  those  *who  needed  them. 
Once,  when  he  came  to  see  us,  he  said  to  one  who  was 
pretty  badly  used  up,  "  My  friend,  you  should  be  very 
thankful  that  it  is  no  worse!"  To  which  the  officer 
replied,  "  I  am,  but  I  would  be  a  d — d  sight  more 
thankful  if  it  had  not  been  so  bad!"  This  did  not 
evoke  a  reply  from  the  man  of  God,  who  seemed  to 

100 


Defying  the   Doctors 

consider  it  quite  a  new  view  of  the  situation;  but  to 
the  rest  of  us  it  sounded  like  good  common  sense. 

After  a  very  comfortable  trip,  all  things  considered, 
we  arrived  at  Norfolk  at  daylight  in  the  morning,  and 
hauled  alongside  the  wharf  at  the  Naval  Hospital.  We 
were  landed  without  delay,  and  I  found  myself  on  a 
comfortable  bed  in  a  large,  clean-looking  ward.  I 
slipped  my  revolver  under  the  pillow,  and  pulling  the 
blankets  up  about  my  chin,  went  to  sleep  and  did  not 
awake  until  ten  o'clock  that  night.  The  surgeon  in 
charge  and  his  principal  assistant  were  standing  by  the 
bedside,  and  after  a  careful  examination  of  my  wounds 
they  retired  to  the  end  of  the  room  for  consultation, 
when  I  distinctly  heard  the  senior  one  say,  "  Take 
both  legs  off  in  the  morning."  I  did  not  get  much 
sleep  that  night,  but  I  did  do  some  very  serious 
thinking. 

The  following  morning  the  assistant,  who  was 
a  personal  friend  of  mine,  came  in,  and  after  a  few 
words  of  greeting  began  to  tell  me  how  seriously  I 
was  wounded,  and  how  dangerous  wounds  about  the 
knee  were.  I  saw  at  once  that  he  hated  to  tell  me 
what  he  was  going  to  do  to  me,  so  to  relieve  the  situa 
tion  I  told  him  that  I  had  overheard  the  conversation 
the  night  before;  that  I  had  thought  very  seriously 
of  the  matter,  and  that  I  preferred  to  die  with  my  legs 
on;  that  I  was  only  eighteen  years  old,  and  the 
thought  of  living  my  life  without  my  legs  was  more 
than  I  cared  to  face;  that  as  the  legs  belonged  to  me, 
I  thought  I  had  a  right  to  say  what  was  to  become 
of  them;  and  that  I  asked  the  doctors  to  do  what  they 
could  for  me  with  my  legs  on,  and  if  I  died  it  was 

8  101 


A  Sailor's  Log 

no  matter.  He  heard  me  very  quietly,  and  I  thought 
with  sympathy,  but  when  I  had  finished  he  said,  "  You 
know,  Evans,  orders  have  to  be  obeyed !  "  Thinking 
that  he  had  misunderstood  me,  I  went  over  matters 
again,  and  wound  up  by  asking  that  they  put  me  out 
on  the  lawn  on  a  cot  rather  than  cut  me  to  pieces; 
that  I  would  find  some  one  to  take  me  to  a  hospital 
farther  North.  Again  came  the  reply  about  obeying 
orders.  Reaching  over,  I  pulled  the  gun  from  under 
my  pillow;  I  told  him  that  there  were  six  loads  in  it, 
and  that  if  he  or  any  one  else  entered  my  door  with 
anything  that  looked  like  a  case  of  instruments  I 
meant  to  begin  shooting,  and  that  he  might  rest  per 
fectly  sure  that  I  would  kill  six  before  they  cut  my 
legs  off.  This  brought  matters  to  a  crisis  at  once,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  the  surgeon  in  charge  came  in  very 
angry  and  full  of  threats.  But  the  result  was  that  they 
left  my  legs  on,  and  paid  very  little  attention  to  me 
in  any  way  for  two  weeks,  when  they  found  I  had  fever 
and  must  be  looked  after. 

To  the  wife  of  the  doctor  who  was  going  to  op 
erate  and  his  little  daughter  I  owe  my  life.  Had  it 
not  been  for  their  kindness  and  care  I  should  un 
doubtedly  have  died.  It  would  be  difficult  to  make 
any  one  believe  to-day  the  conditions  that  existed 
in  the  Norfolk  Hospital  at  the  time  of  which  I  write. 
No  doubt  the  medical  officers  did  the  best  they 
could  with  the  tools  they  had  to  work  with,  but  the 
tools  were  awfully  bad.  Hospital  diet  was  unknown, 
and  we  lived  on  regular  rations — at  least  I  did,  until 
bacon  and  cabbage  knocked  me  out,  strong  as  I  was, 
and  it  was  then  that  the  doctor's  wife  and  daugh- 

102 


Days    of  Suffering 

ter  saved  me.  Such  a  thing  as  a  trained  nurse  was 
absolutely  unknown,  and  there  were  none  of  the  mod 
ern  conveniences  for  handling  men  in  my  perfectly 
helpless  condition.  No  language  of  man  can  convey 
any  idea  of  the  quantity  and  variety  of  vermin  in  that 
hospital.  I  have  lived  my  whole  life  in  hopes  that  it 
would  burn  down  and  that  I  might  be  there  to  see  the 
slaughter! 

When  it  was  discovered  that  I  had  fever  I  was 
placed  in  a  room  with  two  other  officers — Paymaster 
Schenck,  who  had  been  wounded  in  the  first  fight  at 
Fort  Fisher,  and  a  volunteer  lieutenant  named  Vas- 
sallo,  who  had  been  literally  peppered  in  the  same 
fight  by  the  bursting  of  a  Parrott  gun  which  he  was 
firing.  Schenck,  who  was  the  jolliest,  best  soul  in  the 
world,  kept  us  amused  with  his  stories,  and  read  to  us 
or  wrote  letters  for  us  when  we  were  unable  to  do  so 
for  ourselves.  Erysipelas  soon  developed  in  my  right 
leg  from  the  attendant  using  a  dirty  sponge,  and  then 
came  an  abscess  in  the  right  knee.  In  the  meantime 
bedsores  added  to  my  misery,  and  all  the  bones  on 
my  right  side,  hip,  knee,  and  ankle  came  through  the 
skin.  In  fact,  I  was  a  skeleton,  and  nothing  more. 
For  nurse  in  this  room  we  had  a  fine  chap  named  Mil- 
ligan,  an  enlisted  man,  who  had  been  wounded  and 
was  convalescent,  six  feet  tall  and  as  strong  as  an  ox, 
and  scrupulously  honest,  but  he  knew  nothing  about 
nursing.  Milligan  had  a  pass- book,  and  every  third 
day  he  would  go  to  Norfolk  and  buy  things  for  us, 
generally  sugar  and  coffee  and  whisky.  At  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning  he  would  turn  out  and  make  a  pot  of 
strong  coffee,  and  each  patient  would  have  a  cup  of  it 

103 


A  Sailor's  Log 

with  enough  whisky  put  in  to  make  it  bite.  Then  we 
would  smoke  a  cigar  or  two  and  be  ready  for  what 
breakfast  we  could  get.  Looking  back  at  it  now,  the 
wonder  is  that  any  of  us  got  well. 

After  a  time  Schenck  recovered  from  his  compound 
fracture  and  went  home,  and  later  on  Vassallo  also. 
Then  I  was  left  alone  to  watch  the  trees  grow  outside 
my  window.  As  spring  advanced  into  summer  one 
branch  spread  out  and  almost  covered  it.  I  amused 
myself  by  sketching  this  branch  each  day  when  I  was 
strong  enough  to  do  it.  Often  I  was  too  weak  to  lift 
my  hand,  much  less  use  a  pencil.  Several  times  the 
doctors  gave  me  up,  and  though  they  never  told  me 
so,  I  knew  when  they  thought  I  was  going  to  die  by 
the  appearance  of  the  chaplain,  who  never  hesitated 
to  tell  me  that  I  was  dying,  and  also  just  where  I  was 
going  to  bring  up  after  I  was  dead.  Fortunately,  I  did 
not  believe  him  in  either  of  his  statements.  One  of 
them  was  clearly  wrong,  and  the  other  has  yet  to  be 
decided. 

The  Powhatan  came  to  Norfolk  early  in  February, 
and  I  then  heard  for  the  first  time  an  accurate  account 
of  our  losses  in  the  Fort  Fisher  fight.  All  the  officers 
from  our  ship  had  been  wounded,  and  out  of  the  sixty- 
two  men  in  my  company  fifty-four  had  been  either  killed 
or  wounded.  The  naval  brigade  as  a  whole  had  been 
fearfully  punished,  but  we  did  what  was  expected  of  us 
— drew  the  garrison  away  from  the  point  selected  by 
General  Terry  for  his  assault,  thereby  aiding  the  army 
to  get  in. 

Early  in  June  my  wounds  had  healed,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  get  away  from  the  hospital  if  I  could. 

104 


After  Fort  Fisher. 


A   Difficult  Journey 

I  told  Milligan,  who  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  to  go 
to  the  carpenter  shop  and  make  me  a  stretcher  nar 
row  enough  to  go  in  the  aisle  of  a  car,  and  to  use  a 
hammock  to  cover  it.  When  he  had  done  it  he  man 
aged  to  get  me  on  the  stretcher  and  cover  me  with 
a  sheet.  Then  I  sent  for  the  surgeon  in  charge,  who 
was  so  surprised  that  he  fell  in  with  my  plan  and 
allowed  me  to  go,  or  rather  to  be  taken,  to  the  Bay 
Line  steamer  for  Baltimore.  In  fact,  he  sent  Milligan 
with  me  to  take  care  of  me  until  I  reached  my  home, 
which  was  then  in  Philadelphia.  I  have  sometimes 
thought  the  dear  old  doctor  was  very  glad  to  get  rid 
of  me.  I  was  taken  across  the  harbour  in  a  small 
boat,  and  nearly  drowned  in  a  squall  that  struck  us  on 
the  way;  but  we  managed  to  make  the  steamer  finally, 
•and  here  my  troubles  began  again.  The  stretcher 
would  not  fit  in  anywhere!  Finally,  the  captain 
stowed  me  in  the  ladies'  cabin,  where  some  beautiful 
rebel  girls  gave  me  the  benefit  of  their  tongues.  I 
was  as  patient  under  this  as  I  could  be,  and  when  we 
got  into  Chesapeake  Bay  that  night,  and  they  were  all 
very  seasick,  I  had  my  innings. 

On  board  the  steamer  I  found  a  company  of  the 
Twelfth  Infantry,  who  took  charge  of  me  and  showed 
me  every  kindness  and  attention.  At  Baltimore  they 
carried  me  to  the  train,  but  the  sergeant  in  charge  of 
the  squad  concluded  that  I  could  go  more  comfort 
ably  by  boat  through  the  canal,  so  took  me  there  and 
saw  me  snugly  berthed  before  he  left  me.  At  Phila 
delphia  my  uncle,  who  had  returned  from  the  South, 
met  me  with  a  fireman's  ambulance,  and  I  was  soon 
comfortably  housed  and  cared  for  by  loving  hands.  In 

105 


A  Sailor's  Log 

taking  me  into  the  house,  on  account  of  a  sharp  turn 
in  the  stairs,  the  stretcher  had  to  be  shoved  out  of  a 
second-story  window,  which  alarmed  Milligan  very 
much,  but  did  not  worry  me,  as  I  knew  nothing 
about  it. 

My  convalescence  was  slow  and  very  tedious.  My 
right  leg  had  been  allowed  to  contract  to  such  an  ex 
tent  that  I  could  not  get  my  foot  to  the  ground,  and 
the  tendons  of  my  left  leg  had  healed  into  the  wound 
in  that  leg  and  seemed  very  much  too  short.  When  I 
stood  on  my  left  foot  my  heel  would  not  come  to  the 
ground,  and  when  I  tried  to  force  it  down  the  pain  in 
the  calf  of  my  leg  was  very  severe.  However,  I  stuck 
to  it,  and  after  a  few  months  the  left  leg  worked  fairly 
well.  Then  I  went  to  duty  at  the  Philadelphia  Navy 
Yard,  where  I  remained  only  a  short  time,  when  I  was 
ordered  to  ordnance  duty  at  the  Washington  yard. 


106 


CHAPTER  X 

SEA   SERVICE    IN   THE    ORIENT 

THE  desire  to  get  back  to  sea  duty  was  very 
strong,  but  my  condition  absolutely  forbade  it.  I 
could  not  use  my  right  leg,  and  was  compelled  to 
walk  with  crutches.  The  idea  came  to  me  that  my 
right  knee  could  be  broken  again,  and  my  leg  set  at 
such  an  angle  that  I  could  walk  on  it.  I  returned 
to  Philadelphia  and  consulted  Dr.  Samuel  Gross,  who 
made  me  very  happy  by  saying  that  he  would  under 
take  the  job.  I  was  soon  under  chloroform,  and  the 
operation  successfully  done.  An  instrument  was  put 
on  my  leg  by  which  it  was  hoped  that  the  motion  of 
my  knee  might  be  restored,  and  I  was  cautioned  to 
work  it  every  day  for  that  purpose.  It  caused  me 
great  pain,  and  after  torturing  myself  with  it  for  a 
year  and  a  half,  without  any  apparent  benefit,  I  buried 
it  in  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  question  of  my  promotion  now  came  up,  and 
the  Medical  Board  promptly  had  me  placed  on  the 
retired  list,  on  the  ground  that  I  could  not  perform 
all  my  duties  at  sea.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  go  to  Congress  for  relief,  which  I  did.  Being 
the  only  officer  in  the  navy  retired  for  wounds  re 
ceived  in  battle,  I  was  put  back  on  the  active  list,  and 

107 


A  Sailor's  Log 

shortly  afterward  advanced  some  thirty  numbers,  in 
company  with  three  other  classmates.  This  advance 
ment  was  the  result  of  being  selected  by  a  Board  of 
Admirals,  no  one  of  whom  I  knew;  nor  did  I  know 
a  single  member  of  Congress,  Senator  or  Represent 
ative,  at  the  time,  yet  my  promotion  caused  me 
no  end  of  trouble.  I  have  always  supposed  that  it 
was  made  purely  on  my  record,  as  I  knew  nothing 
about  it  until  I  was  sent  for  at  the  Navy  Depart 
ment  and  there  told  of  it.  The  following  extract 
from  the  report  of  Lieutenant-Commander  James 
Parker,  who  was  the  senior  officer  on  shore  in  the 
attack  on  Fort  Fisher,  was  a  matter  of  pride  to  me 
as  a  young  officer,  and  is  of  interest  in  this  connec 
tion: 

"  Acting  Ensign  (Regular)  R.  D.  Evans  was 
wounded  in  the  leg  just  after  reaching  the  end  of  the 
palisade;  he  bound  up  the  wound  with  his  handker 
chief,  and  then  pressed  on  until  he  fell  with  a  second 
wound  in  the  knee  joint. 

"  From  all  I  can  learn,  his  bravery  and  determina 
tion  to  enter  the  fort  were  equalled  by  few  and  ex 
celled  by  none. 

"  He  now  lies  in  a  critical  state  at  the  Naval  Hos 
pital,  Norfolk." 

After  I  had  been  confirmed  as  a  lieutenant,  the 
question  of  sea  service  once  more  came  to  the  front, 
and  I  determined  to  settle  it  once  for  all  by  going 
to  sea  and  making  the  effort  to  do  all  the  duties  re 
quired  of  me.  Captain  Daniel  Ammen  was  going  out 
to  China  in  command  of  Admiral  Rowan's  flagship, 
the  Piscataqua,  and  to  him  I  applied.  He  very  kindly 

1 08 


On   the   Piscataqua 

asked  for  my  detail  to  his  ship,  and  my  orders  were 
made  out  immediately. 

The  Piscataqua  was  fitting  out  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  and  I  reported  on  board  of  her  in 
October,  1867.  After  several  weeks'  delay,  we  sailed 
from  Portsmouth  for  New  York,  where  the  ship  was 
docked  and  some  necessary  work  done  to  complete 
her.  She  was  a  new  ship,  and  this  was  to  be  her 
maiden  voyage.  Toward  the  end  of  November  we 
were  finally  ready  for  sea,  and  anchored  off  the  Bat 
tery,  New  York,  to  await  our  orders.  A  violent  north 
east  gale  came  on,  with  a  heavy  snowstorm,  and  in 
the  midst  of  it  the  apothecary  thought  it  a  good  time 
to  kill  himself,  which  he  did  by  taking  poison.  Then 
the  ship  walked  away  with  her  anchors  during  the 
night,  and  in  the  morning  we  had  two  large  schooners 
under  our  bows  with  their  chains  and  our  own  beauti 
fully  twisted  together — so  effectually,  indeed,  that  it 
took  us  all  day  to  clear  them.  The  decks  were  covered 
with  snow  to  an  average  depth  of  two  feet,  and  this 
was  frozen  as  hard  as  a  nail,  so  that  there  was  not 
much  comfort  on  board.  However,  there  is  an  end 
to  all  things,  and  at  last,  having  buried  the  apothecary, 
who  had  caused  so  much  trouble,  we  put  to  sea. 

In  the  wardroom  we  had  a  splendid  mess  of  twenty- 
three  members,  and  in  the  steerage  we  carried  nineteen 
midshipmen,  just  graduated  from  Annapolis,  many  of 
them  being  older  than  the  watch  officers.  Admiral 
Rowan  and  Captain  Ammen  were  well  known  in  the 
professional  world  as  officers  of  great  ability  and  repu 
tation,  without  superiors  in  any  service. 

As  we  passed  out  by  Sandy  Hook,  the  caterer  of 
109 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  midshipmen's  mess  appealed  to  the  officer  of  the 
deck  to  detail  some  men  to  find  their  mess  stores,  which 
he  did,  and  two  barrels  of  potatoes  were  dug  out  of  the 
snow,  all  frozen  hard;  and  these  were  the  only  food  that 
the  youngsters  had  provided  to  last  them  to  Rio.  Cap 
tain  Ammen  gave  them  a  barrel  of  peanuts,  which, 
with  ship's  rations,  was  all  they  had  to  rely  on.  Both 
the  admiral  and  the  captain  were  officers  of  the  old 
school,  and  believed  in  old-time  methods. 

The  midshipmen  were  stationed  in  three  watches 
and  were  sent  aloft  whenever  the  men  went  up,  and 
were  expected  to  call  the  officers  of  the  relief  watches 
and  light  their  candles.  The  war  had  broken  up  many 
of  these  old  customs,  and  this  was  the  first  effort  to 
renew  them.  Of  course  the  youngsters  kicked  hard, 
but  the  routine  was  carried  out  to  the  end  of  the 
cruise,  much  to  the  benefit  of  all  concerned.  Quite  a 
number  of  the  nineteen  are  still  living,  all  distin 
guished  as  excellent  officers,  and  if  you  should  ask 
any  one  of  them  he  would  tell  you  that  this  first 
cruise  was  the  making  of  him.  The  captain  carried  a 
case  of  beautiful  duelling  pistols  which  he  thought  his 
young  officers  might  want  to  use. 

The  Piscataqua  was  one  of  those  long,  narrow  pro 
ductions  so  much  in  fashion  about  the  time  our  civil 
war  closed.  She  had  many  bad  qualities,  but  no  good 
ones.  She  did,  however,  serve  as  an  object  lesson  to 
show  the  naval  constructors  what  bad  work  they  were 
doing,  and  helped  them  to  something  better.  She 
could  carry  sail  well  off  the  wind,  and  made  good 
speed  when  pressed,  but  on  the  wind  she  could  do 
nothing.  As  a  steamer  she  was  a  notable  failure. 

no 


In    Rio    Harbour 

When  forced,  she  could  do  twelve  knots  in  smooth 
water,  but  while  doing  it  she  would  fairly  shake  the 
teeth  out  of  your  head.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the 
strong  diagonal  bracing  of  the  hull  the  stern  would 
have  dropped  off  before  we  reached  our  destination. 
Fortunately  for  the  comfort  of  all  hands,  we  sailed 
most  of  the  time,  and  thus  avoided  the  excessive 
vibrations  caused  by  the  screw,  which  at  times  really 
prevented  any  one  in  the  after  part  of  the  ship  from 
sleeping. 

We  stood  well  out  to  the  eastward,  and  carried 
good  winds  down  to  the  line,  where  Father  Neptune 
had  a  hard  job,  as  we  were  all  green  hands  to  him, 
except  a  few  of  the  older  men.  After  the  usual  visit — 
dirty  soapsuds  for  shaving  and  much  salt  water  for 
ducking — he  gave  us  certificates,  and  we  steamed  for 
a  few  days  before  we  caught  the  welcome  trades. 
Once  we  got  them,  however,  we  held  them  almost  to 
our  anchorage  in  Rio  Harbour,  where  we  arrived  Janu 
ary  15,  1868,  thirty-one  days  out  from  New  York. 

Rio  was,  comparatively  speaking,  free  from  fever  at 
the  time  of  our  visit,  and  we  enjoyed  it  to  the  utmost. 
The  opera,  in  which  Aimee  was  the  star,  was  very 
good;  the  restaurants  gave  us  fine  food  after  our  sea 
grub,  and  the  suburbs  were  charming.  When  we  had 
been  in  port  a  few  days  a  Russian  practice  ship  came 
in  filled  with  midshipmen.  They  and  our  youngsters 
fraternized  on  shore,  and  that  evening  owned  the 
largest  theatre  in  the  city.  A  party  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  midshipmen  in  Russian  uniform  took  charge  of 
the  stage  and  ran  the  performance  to  suit  themselves, 
which  did  not  please  the  audience;  and  the  result  was 

in 


A  Sailor's  Log 

that  all  the  morning  papers  had  hard  words  for  the 
Russian  ship  and  her  crew.  During  the  forenoon  of 
the  following  day  all  our  midshipmen  were  sent  for  by 
the  admiral  and  quarantined  to  the  ship.  He  was  the 
only  one  who  had  detected  our  gang  in  the  Russian 
uniforms. 

Leaving  Rio  January  29th,  we  ran  down  to  the 
"  roaring  forties  "  and  squared  away  for  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  During  this  trip  we  had  a  good  chance 
to  see  what  the  ship  would  do  running  in  a  hard  gale, 
for  we  had  nothing  but  gales  all  the  way  over.  We 
found  that  she  ran  fairly  well,  but  was  most  uncom 
fortable,  rolling  from  thirty-seven  to  forty-five  de 
grees,  and  keeping  it  up  for  days  without  a  let  up. 
We  fairly  rolled  our  way  to  the  Cape,  arriving  at  Si 
mon's  Town  February  iQth.  We  had  tried  the  "  brave 
west  winds/'  and  were  ready  to  admit  that  they  were 
all  that  had  been  claimed  for  them,  and  as  much  more 
as  anybody  wanted  to  say;  and  the  seas  that  came 
with  and  were  made  by  them  were  worth  a  trip  around 
the  world  to  see.  Coming  as  they  did  all  the  way 
around  Cape  Horn  and  across  the  South  Atlantic, 
they  acquired  a  force  and  grandeur  never  seen  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  At  times  our  big  ship  would 
settle  down  between  two  great  mountains  of  water, 
and  one  involuntarily  held  his  breath  for  a  moment 
until  she  climbed  the  side  in  front  of  her;  and  then,  as 
she  settled  down  again,  the  great  white-crested  follow 
ing  sea  raced  after  her,  looking  as  if  it  must  board  her 
and  sweep  everything  before  it. 

Each  day  at  noon  we  threw  overboard  a  bottle 
tightly  corked,  and  containing  the  latitude  and  longi- 

112 


A   Visit   to   Cape   Town 

tude,  with  the  request  that  the  finder  send  the  slip  of 
paper  to  the  Navy  Department  at  Washington,  giving 
the  location  where  the  bottle  was  found.  This  was 
done  in  order  to  help,  if  possible,  in  determining  the 
force  and  direction  of  ocean  currents.  In  the  afternoon 
we  usually  amused  ourselves  fishing  for  albatross.  We 
used  a  blunt-pointed  hook,  which  generally  caught 
under  the  projecting  bill,  and  by  keeping  a  steady 
strain  on  the  line  the  beautiful  bird  was  landed  on  deck 
unhurt.  Some  of  those  we  caught  measured  ten  feet 
from  tip  to  tip.  After  robbing  them  of  a  few  feathers, 
and  placing  about  their  necks  a  brass  shield  with  the 
date  and  name  of  the  ship,  we  threw  them  overboard 
to  rejoin  their  companions. 

The  anchorage  in  Simon's  Bay  was  at  times  very 
uncomfortable,  owing  to  the  heavy  sea  that  set  in 
when  the  winds  blew  home,  which  they  frequently  did. 
It  was  selected  in  preference  to  Cape  Town  because 
at  that  season  of  the  year  the  prevailing  winds  were 
supposed  to  be  more  favourable  for  boating,  but  we 
all  agreed  that  it  was  rough  enough  where  we  were. 
Frequently  all  hands  in  a  boat  would  land  or  reach 
the  ship  thoroughly  soaked  with  salt  water. 

The  trip  around  to  Cape  Town  was  a  very  delight 
ful  one,  and  I  made  it  several  times.  Part  of  the  way 
we  drove  on  a  beautiful  firm  beach,  and  then  took  the 
road  over  some  picturesque  mountains,  where  the  scen 
ery  was  very  characteristic  of  South  Africa.  We  usu 
ally  rested  and  had  breakfast  at  the  Halfway  House, 
and  then  jogged  along  slowly  through  the  grape  dis 
trict,  stopping  now  and  then  to  enjoy  the  delicious 
fruit,  or  maybe  a  glass  or  bottle  of  the  excellent  wine 

"3 


A  Sailor's  Log 

made  hereabouts.  On  arriving  at  Cape  Town,  we  al 
ways  went  to  the  Royal  Hotel,  where  we  were  well 
treated,  and  found  the  food  most  enjoyable  after  our 
sea  fare  of  hard-tack  and  "  salt  horse."  Once  I  joined  a 
party  for  a  trip  to  Table  Mountain,  from  which  we  had 
a  magnificent  view  of  all  the  surrounding  country  and 
the  coast  for  many  miles.  For  once  in  my  life  I  drank 
Bass  ale  when  it  was  perfect — all  the  surroundings 
conspired  to  make  it  so.  I  was  dead  tired  when  lunch 
time  came,  and  the  ale  was  brought  on,  not  too  cold, 
with  cold  roast  beef  and  cheese.  I  have  often  said 
that  it  was  worth  the  price  of  this  trip  to  know  how 
good  ale  could  be  when  it  was  at  its  best.  We  left 
Simon's  Town,  after  a  stay  of  ten  days,  with  sincere 
regret,  and  started  for  our  long  and  tedious  run  across 
the  Indian  Ocean. 

We  could  not  carry  coal  enough  to  steam  the 
whole  distance,  and  therefore  relied  on  our  canvas, 
which  made  the  trip  pleasanter  and  more  interesting 
than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  Officers  and  men 
soon  shook  down  into  their  places,  and  the  healthy 
rivalry  that  does  so  much  to  make  our  service  what 
it  is  showed  itself.  Each  watch  was  ready  to  wager 
anything  that  it  could  make  sail  or  reduce  it  to  a 
squall  in  half  the  time  the  other  could,  and  the  gun 
divisions  had  the  same  feeling.  We  were  drilled  con 
stantly,  as  the  admiral  would  not  tolerate  any  but 
the  very  best  work,  particularly  with  the  guns.  He 
had  a  fashion  of  coming  out  of  his  cabin  in  the  middle 
of  the  night  and,  without  previous  warning  to  any 
one,  ordering  the  alarm  for  general  quarters  sounded. 
On  such  occasions  he  would  order  a  shot  or  shell  fired 

114 


A   Quick   Shot 

from  each  gun  in  the  battery,  carefully  taking  the 
time  himself,  and  the  last  one  to  fire  usually  heard  some 
very  plain  words  from  him. 

One  night  I  was  the  officer  of  the  deck  when  he 
had  an  exercise  of  this  kind,  and  one  of  my  guns 
fired  the  first  shot.  It  was  fired  just  as  I  reached 
the  gun  and  before  things  were  ready,  and  caused 
considerable  trouble  by  parting  side  tackles  and  other 
gear.  Several  minutes  elapsed  before  another  gun 
was  fired,  and  the  officers  of  the  other  divisions 
claimed  that  my  gun  captain  had  obtained  his  car 
tridge  by  unfair  means,  while  I  myself  was  satisfied 
that  the  gun  had  really  been  fired  before  the  magazine 
was  opened;  but  of  course  I  said  nothing  about  it, 
and  stood  up  for  my  man,  praising  his  promptness. 
After  a  few  days  he  told  me  all  about  it:  he  had 
the  cartridge  in  his  hammock,  where  he  had  carried 
it  since  the  last  exercise,  determined  to  be  among 
the  first.  The  powder  boy  swore  that  he  got  the 
cartridge  from  the  powder  division  and  carried  it  to 
the  gun  and  handed  it  to  the  loader.  He  even  re 
membered  particulars:  how  the  man  in  the  powder 
division  had  said  to  him,  "  You  are  pretty  d — d  quick 
this  time!"  How  could  you  doubt  such  evidence?  Of 
course,  it  was  all  right,  and  the  gun  had  been  properly 
loaded  and  fired. 

After  a  very  pleasant  run  across  the  Indian  Ocean 
we  passed  Java  Head  and  hurried  on  to  Singapore, 
where  the  Hartford  was  waiting  for  us  to  relieve  her; 
and  it  was  here  that  we  had  the  first  news  of  Admiral 
Bell's  death.  He  had  been  drowned  at  Osaka,  in 
Japan,  while  attempting  to  cross  the  bar  in  his  barge. 


A  Sailor's  Log 

The  sea  was  breaking  very  heavily,  and,  before  leav 
ing  the  ship,  the  danger  was  pointed  out  to  him;  but 
the  ministers  were  in  peril  on  shore,  and  he  decided 
to  take  the  chance,  and  so  lost  his  life.  The  boats  of 
the  ship  were  prepared  as  soon  as  he  shoved  off,  so 
confident  were  the  officers  that  he  would  come  to 
grief,  and  the  moment  his  barge  was  capsized  they 
were  hurried  to  the  rescue,  and  succeeded  in  saving 
most  of  the  crew. 

Singapore  proved  a  charming  place  to  me.  The 
people  were  most  hospitably  disposed,  and  the  mode 
of  living  well  suited  to  the  climate.  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life  I  tasted  real  curry.  Of  course  I  had  eaten 
the  rice  paste,  served  in  the  United  States  with  its 
offensive  hot  yellow  gravy,  but  here  in  Singapore  we 
had  the  real  thing — fresh  curry  powder  each  day,  rice 
that  was  like  a  pile  of  snow  flakes,  Bombay  duck,  a 
flat,  dried  fish  baked  crisp,  and  Borneo  red  fish.  When 
prepared  like  this,  one  has  the  finest  breakfast  dish 
in  the  world,  and  one  that  can  be  had  only  in  the 
tropics,  because  only  there  can  the  fresh  curry  powder 
be  obtained,  and  without  that  you  can't  have  real 
curry.  We  also  had  for  the  first  time  the  mangosteen, 
which  some  one  has  described  as  strawberries  and 
peaches  and  cream  mixed;  but  the  description  only 
gives  a  faint  idea  of  the  excellence  of  the  fruit.  Of 
course,  all  other  tropical  fruits  were  in  abundance,  and 
the  people  of  Singapore  knew  how  to  serve  them.  All 
our  spare  time  was  given  to  enjoying  the  hospitality 
which  the  people  were  most  lavish  in  extending  to  us, 
and  we  went  on  our  way  to  Hong-Kong  with  much 
regret  and  many  hopes  that  we  might  soon  be  back. 

116 


Chinese    Pirates 

We  had  been  sent  to  the  East  with  orders  to  pun 
ish  the  natives  of  Formosa  for  their  ill  treatment  of 
some  shipwrecked  Americans,  and  we  were  all  ready 
for  the  job — organized,  armed,  and  equipped;  but  be 
fore  we  arrived  the  affair  had  been  settled  by  Admiral 
Bell,  so  we  were  saved  the  trouble.  A  large  force  had 
been  landed,  and  a  fight  resulted,  in  which  Lieutenant- 
Commander  Mackenzie  had  lost  his  life,  he  being  the 
only  man  killed. 

When  we  arrived  at  Hong-Kong  piracy  prevailed 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  admiral  sent  Gushing  in 
the  Maumee  to  look  after  the  pirates  and  break  them 
up.  As  this  was  a  good  chance  for  service,  I  volun 
teered  for  the  trip,  but  Captain  Ammen  decided  that 
I  was  wanted  on  board  the  flagship,  and  my  appli 
cation  was  returned  to  me  disapproved.  I  had  set 
tled  the  question  of  being  able  to  do  all  my  duties 
at  sea  by  this  time,  and  was  very  anxious  to  have 
this  cruise  on  a  small,  lively  vessel  to  clinch  the  mat 
ter;  but  it  was  not  to  be.  I  argued  and  begged  hard, 
but  the  captain  maintained  that  my  services  were  re 
quired  where  I  was.  Cushing  went  after  the  pirates, 
and  in  a  few  days  they  began  to  arrive  at  Hong-Kong 
by  the  dozen.  He  found,  as  we  all  suspected  he 
would,  that  every  Chinese  junk  was  a  pirate  when  it 
suited  the  owner  to  be  so.  The  war  junks  were  the 
worst  of  the  lot.  So  Cushing  ran  in  everything  that 
he  came  across,  and  only  stopped  when  the  authorities 
asked  that  he  be  recalled,  as  he  was  capturing  the  en 
tire  Chinese  merchant  fleet.  China  had  no  navy  then 
outside  of  her  fleet  of  junks,  armed  with  old  smooth 
bore  guns  and  stinkpots.  Her  ports  were  all  fairly 
9  117 


A  Sailor's  Log 

well  defended  by  forts,  and  on  these  she  relied  for 
protection. 

Hong-Kong  I  found  an  ideal  place  for  defence. 
The  English  certainly  showed  their  wisdom  in  select 
ing  it  as  their  base  of  supplies  in  China.  When  we 
arrived  there  it  was  garrisoned  by  two  English  and 
several  Indian  regiments,  all  excellent  troops,  and  kept 
up  to  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency.  Socially, 
Hong-Kong  was  the  best  place  on  the  station,  but 
only  endurable  in  the  winter  months;  in  summer  the 
heat  was  intense,  and  all  sorts  of  sickness  prevailed,  in 
cluding  the  plague.  The  fine  race  track  at  Happy 
Valley  and  the  resort  on  the  signal  station  hill,  particu 
larly  the  latter,  were  patronized  by  all  hands.  Two 
Chinamen  with  a  sedan  chair  would  trot  you  up  to 
this  place  about  as  fast  as  a  horse  could  go,  and  in 
a  cool  evening  a  visit  and  dinner  here  were  sure  to  be 
enjoyed.  There  was  one  hotel  in  Hong-Kong  at  this 
time,  and  it  was  anything  but  good;  but  the  English 
Club  was  excellent,  and  always  open  to  us.  The  cus 
tom  of  inviting  newcomers  to  visit  the  large  business 
houses  had  not  yet  died  out,  and  there  was,  in  conse 
quence,  no  demand  for  large  hotel  accommodations. 
The  roads  were  excellent,  as  is  always  the  case  in 
places  under  English  control,  and  I  made  many  excur 
sions  in  the  suburbs  either  by  chair  or  wheeled  vehicle. 

The  Chinese  population  seemed  happy  and  prosper 
ous,  but  given  to  gambling  to  an  extent  that  I  never 
saw  before.  I  often  visited  the  gambling  shops  fre 
quented  by  the  high-caste  Chinese,  and  was  much  inter 
ested  in  watching  the  play.  Fan-tan  was  the  game,  and 
it  was  not  unusual  to  see  a  Chinaman  bet  his  wife  after 

118 


Thieving   Boatmen 

having  lost  everything  else.  Judging  from  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  women,  the  only  wonder  was  that 
the  banker  could  place  a  value  low  enough  on  them. 
Like  all  Chinese  coast  cities,  there  was  a  large  fishing 
population;  by  that  I  mean  people  who  lived  and  had 
their  homes  on  the  water,  the  women  and  children  not 
being  allowed  to  visit  the  shore  except  at  certain 
specified  times.  The  men  were  allowed  to  land  where 
they  had  employment,  but  not  otherwise,  except  at 
stated  times  and  places.  When  they  had  landed  the 
boats  were  shoved  off  and  went  about  their  business 
until  time  for  the  men  to  embark,  when  the  boats  were 
allowed  to  come  in  and  take  them  off.  The  water 
police  were  expected  to  look  after  all  these  people 
and  keep  them  in  order.  My  observation  was  that  the 
water  population  was  justly  noted  as  expert  boatmen 
and  thieves.  You  could  trust  yourself  in  one  of  their 
boats  in  any  kind  of  weather,  and  be  very  certain  that 
they  would  steal  from  you  every  movable  thing  on 
your  person.  On  one  occasion  they  stripped  the  cop 
per  off  one  entire  side  of  a  Pacific  mail  steamer  in 
one  night,  while  she  was  lying  at  her  dock,  and  not  a 
soul  on  board  heard  even  a  suspicious  noise. 

When  bad  weather  came  many  of  these  sampans,  as 
they  were  called,  were  wrecked,  and  many  lives  lost. 
To  prevent  the  loss  of  life  as  much  as  possible,  all  the 
children  had  small  wooden  buoys  made  fast  to  their 
bodies.  I  once  saw  an  entire  family  driven  overboard 
in  a  curious  way.  A  Chinese  bumboatman  brought  to 
our  ship  a  very  large  monkey,  or  ape,  which  he  offered 
for  sale.  It  was  a  ferocious-looking  beast,  very  wild 
and  vicious;  but  the  maintopmen  concluded  that  they 

119 


A  Sailor's  Log 

wanted  him  for  the  starboard  gangway,  and  so  pur 
chased  him.  He  was  brought  on  board  at  supper  time 
with  a  short  length  of  chain  and  a  stout  leather  collar 
about  his  neck.  Jacky  thought  it  well  to  give  him  his 
first  lesson  in  discipline,  so  he  ran  the  chain  through  a 
ringbolt  in  the  deck,  and,  having  pulled  the  ape's  head 
close  down  to  it,  was  giving  him  a  good  sound  thrash 
ing  with  a  broom  handle,  when  the  collar  broke,  and 
the  ape  at  once  ran  up  the  main  rigging  and  took  pos 
session  of  the  maintop.  Several  men  tried  to  get  into 
the  top,  but  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  do  it,  so 
fierce  were  the  attacks  of  the  enraged  beast.  At  last 
he  was  allowed  to  remain  in  charge  with  the  hope  that 
he  would  be  in  a  better  humour  in  the  morning.  Dur 
ing  the  night,  however,  he  cast  loose  the  bunt  gaskets 
of  the  maintopsail,  and  at  daylight  the  officer  of  the 
deck  found  the  sail  hanging  from  the  yard.  Of  course, 
this  would  not  do,  and  several  men  were  sent  up  to 
restow  the  sail.  The  ape  grabbed  the  first  head  that 
appeared  in  the  top  and  yanked  out  a  handful  of  hair, 
nearly  scalping  the  man  in  the  process.  The  second 
man  was  severely  bitten,  and  the  others  retreated  to 
the  deck.  At  this  time  Captain  Ammen  came  on 
deck,  having  been  aroused  by  the  unusual  commotion, 
and,  seeing  the  conditions,  ordered  the  ape  to  be  shot. 
While  the  gunner's  mate  was  getting  a  rifle,  however, 
the  ape  walked  out  on  the  main  yard,  grinning  defiance 
to  all  hands.  As  soon  as  he  was  well  out  on  the  yard 
the  braces  were  manned,  the  yard  quickly  swung 
around,  and  the  beast  fell  overboard.  As  soon  as  he 
came  to  the  surface  he  swam  to  a  Chinese  boat  lying 
near,  pulled  himself  on  board,  and  was  soon  in  com- 

120 


A  Disappointing   "System" 

mand  of  the  craft.  The  Chinese  family  of  eight  or 
ten  persons  never  disputed  possession  for  a  moment, 
but  bolted  overboard  and  swam  for  the  nearest  boat. 
The  last  we  saw  of  the  captured  boat  as  she  drifted  off 
to  leeward  the  ape  was  industriously  throwing  over 
board  everything  he  could  lay  hands  on. 

Our  stay  at  Hong-Kong  was  not  a  very  long  one, 
but  we  had  sufficient  time  to  make  a  number  of  very 
interesting  excursions;  two  of  them  I  recall.  A  party 
of  us — youngsters,  of  course — figured  out  a  scheme  by 
which  we  could  beat  the  Chinese  gambling  game  known 
as  "  fan-tan."  Our  system  was  carefully  gone  over,  and 
the  more  we  examined  it  the  more  certain  it  appeared 
that  we  had  only  to  play  long  enough  in  order  to 
amass  great  wealth.  Finally,  we  made  our  plans  to 
go  to  the  Portuguese  city  of  Macao,  some  fifty  miles 
away,  and  clean  out  the  gambling  shops  there  first,  as 
they  were  reputed  to  be  more  wealthy  than  the  Chinese 
dens  in  Hong-Kong,  and  wealth  was  what  we  were 
after.  Some  of  our  shipmates  heard  of  our  scheme,  and, 
being  convinced  of  the  soundness  of  our  system,  in 
trusted  us  with  various  sums  to  be  invested  for  their 
interest — the  foundation  of  their  fortunes,  as  it  were. 
Four  of  us  finally  set  out  on  this  important  excursion, 
reached  Macao  safely,  and,  having  secured  comfortable 
rooms  at  one  of  the  best  hotels,  began  our  breaking 
process  on  one  of  the  large  gambling  houses.  For  a 
time  we  did  well,  and  it  really  looked  as  if  we  were 
going  to  get  the  best  of  the  game;  but  the  banker 
eventually  struck  the  weak  point  in  the  system,  and 
we  went  home  at  3  A.  M.  with  just  money  enough  to 
pay  our  hotel  bill  and  our  fare  back  to  Hong  Kong. 

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A  Sailor's  Log 

We  did  not  hear  the  last  of  that  expedition  for  many 
a  long  day. 

Quite  a  party  of  us,  young  and  old,  went  to  Can 
ton,  and  there  spent  several  days  looking  over  that 
interesting  old  city.  There  were  no  hotels,  so  we 
chartered  a  flower  boat,  in  which  we  were  fairly  com 
fortable  at  night;  the  days  we  spent  sightseeing.  I 
was  most  interested,  I  think,  in  the  capital  punish 
ments  as  illustrated  in  the  Temple  of  Horrors  by  full- 
sized  wax  figures.  There  were  hundreds  of  them,  and 
the  authorities  had  certainly  exercised  great  ingenuity 
in  devising  plans  for  making  the  victim  suffer  for  long 
periods  of  time  before  actually  ending  his  life.  The 
theory  of  them  all  seemed  to  be  that  an  offender 
should  be  made  to  suffer  for  his  offence,  and  finally 
to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  life  for  the  crime  he  had 
committed;  but  the  first  idea  was  that  he  should  suf 
fer,  and  suffer  long  and  cruelly.  In  carrying  out  this 
idea  they  had  certainly  shown  wonderful  ability,  and 
had  drawn  freely  on  the  experience  and  practice  of 
all  the  nations  with  whom  they  had  come  in  contact. 
Among  all  the  punishments  illustrated  there  was  not 
a  single  one  shown  that  caused  instant  death  to  the 
victim.  The  one  most  in  use  was  that  by  which  the 
suffering  was  the  longest  drawn  out. 

I  was  also  interested  in  meeting,  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  in  one  of  the  narrow  streets  where  two  chairs  could 
scarcely  pass  each  other,  a  young  man  with  all  the  out 
ward  signs  of  a  Chinaman  except  the  colour  of  his  skin, 
and  yet  who  was  evidently  an  Anglo-Saxon.  He  had 
the  dress  of  the  country  and  the  long  pigtail  hair  of  a 
Chinaman,  and  was  talking  fluently  with  the  natives 

122 


Smoking   Opium 

in  their  own  dialect,  but  he  was,  in  fact,  a  young 
Catholic  priest.  I  found  afterward  that  there  were  a 
number  of  them,  not  only  in  Canton,  but  in  other  Chi 
nese  cities,  living  as  this  young  man  was  among  the 
people,  really  one  of  them.  They  encountered  untold 
hardships  and  privations,  but  they  met  with  success 
in  their  calling,  and  the  progress  of  so-called  civiliza 
tion  in  the  East  is  marked  by  their  graves.  Their 
right,  moral  or  legal,  to  do  the  things  they  were  doing 
is  a  question  each  man  must  settle  for  himself;  but 
that  they  caused  much  trouble  and  the  loss  of  thou 
sands  of  human  lives  is  a  fact  that  can  not  be  disputed. 
How  many  souls  they  saved  is  a  question  that  can  be 
settled  only  at  the  last  roll-call.  That  the  Catholics, 
however,  lived  nearer  the  people  and  had  more  influ 
ence  with  them  for  good  or  for  evil  than  any  other  de 
nomination,  was  plain  to  me.  I  am  not  a  Catholic. 
Before  returning  to  Hong-Kong  we  desired  to 
smoke  opium  Chinese  fashion,  that  we  might  know 
from  practical  experience  what  the  sensation  was  like. 
We  borrowed  a  few  Chinese  experts  from  the  flower 
boat  of  a  nobleman  lying  near  us,  and  after  due  prepa 
ration  proceeded  to  smoke.  The  expert  who  was  giv 
ing  me  his  attention  prepared  a  small  pill  of  the  opium 
mixture,  and  placed  it  over  the  pin  hole  in  the  pipe, 
which  takes  the  place  of  the  ordinary  bowl.  When 
I  had  managed  to  get  the  large  stem  of  the  pipe  into 
my  mouth,  he  applied  a  red-hot  iron  to  the  opium, 
and  the  smoking  began.  I  inhaled  three  whiffs  of  the 
smoke,  which  was  all  the  small  pill  produced,  and 
then  I  was  very  sorry  I  had  done  it.  All  the  fine 
dreams  and  hallucinations  which  I  had  been  led  to 

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A  Sailor's  Log 

expect  and  did  really  expect  to  experience,  were  miss 
ing,  and  in  their  stead  I  was  genuinely  seasick — nau 
seated  until  I  could  neither  eat,  sleep,  nor  stay  awake. 
The  sensation  lasted  for  several  days,  notwithstanding 
the  large  amount  of  strong  tea  and  coffee  I  drank, 
not  to  mention  other  liquids.  I  was  quickly  and  thor 
oughly  cured  of  my  desire  to  smoke  or  take  opium  in 
any  form. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Hong-Kong  we  proceeded  on 
our  way  up  the  coast  of  China,  bound  to  Yokohama, 
Japan.  We  stopped  at  Amoy,  where  I  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  meeting  an  old  friend,  a  missionary,  who  had 
been  my  rector  in  Washington.  I  called  on  him  and 
listened  to  a  very  eloquent  sermon  on  Sunday.  The 
small  chapel  was  well  filled  with  the  foreign  element 
of  the  settlement,  and  they  appeared  to  enjoy  the  ser 
mon;  while  the  native  converts,  four  in  number, 
worked  the  punka  from  the  outside  of  the  building,  and 
fanned  us  while  we  prayed.  Afterward  we  dined  at  a 
comfortable  stone  house,  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the  sea, 
where  the  converts  were  again  in  evidence,  this  time 
serving  the  table  in  a  most  beautiful  and  noiseless  way. 


124 


CHAPTER  XI 

STORMY    DAYS    IN   JAPAN 

UPON  our  arrival  at  Yokohama  we  found  most  of 
the  American  squadron,  as  well  as  a  fair  number  of 
war  ships  of  other  nations,  assembled.  The  Stone 
wall  had  crossed  the  Pacific  under  command  of  that 
excellent  seaman  Captain  George  Brown,  of  the  navy, 
and  was  waiting  to  be  turned  over  to  the  Tycoon;  but 
he  was  engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle  with  the  forces  of 
the  Mikado,  and  no  one  could  foresee  how  the  great 
revolution  of  1867  would  terminate.  The  throne  of 
Japan,  and,  as  it  afterward  turned  out,  the  fate  of  the 
country,  hung  in  the  balance,  while  Japanese  soldiers 
fought  in  the  streets  of  Yeddo,  and  unsuccessful  offi 
cers  promptly  committed  hara-kiri.  The  vessels  of 
the  squadron  were  at  once  put  in  condition  for  active 
service,  owing  to  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  Mikado 
to  drive  all  foreigners  out  of  Japan  when  he  had  sub 
dued  the  Tycoon.  Admiral  Rowan  was  not  the  man 
to  allow  American  interests  or  citizens  to  suffer,  and 
his  recent  experience  in  the  civil  war  fitted  him  ad 
mirably  for  the  important  position  he  was  filling. 
Nearly  every  officer  under  his  command  had  had  war 
service,  and  all  were  ready  for  any  job  that  might 
turn  up. 

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A  Sailor's  Log 

We  were  deeply  interested  in  our  surroundings, 
but  found  it  difficult  to  take  seriously  the  war  per 
formances  of  the  Japanese.  Their  army  was  organized 
as  it  had  been  for  a  hundred  years,  and  commanded, 
as  had  been  the  custom,  by  the  Damios,  or  feudal 
lords,  each  one  supporting  and  leading  his  particular 
band  of  followers.  They  were  armed  with  every  con 
ceivable  kind  of  ancient  weapon,  and  all  wore  the  long, 
heavy  Japanese  sword,  the  officers  being  each  pro 
vided  with  two.  The  Mikado  had  one  or  two  batteries 
of  Whitworth  field  guns,  but  their  use  was  little  un 
derstood.  All  were  in  the  ancient  uniform  of  Japan, 
and  presented  a  curious  contrast  to  the  nut-brown 
Confederates  and  blue-coated  Federals,  whose  sharp 
work  we  had  been  accustomed  to  see.  The  Japanese 
navy  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Tycoon,  and  con 
sisted  of  a  few  old-fashioned  sailing  craft,  under  the 
command  of  Admiral  Ennymoto,  a  lion-hearted  old 
seaman,  who  was  sure  always  to  give  a  good  account 
of  himself.  The  officers  generally  were  brave  and 
courteous,  but,  as  military  men,  about  one  hundred 
years  behind  the  European  standard.  The  enlisted 
men  were  brave,  barbarous,  hardy  little  brown  chaps, 
capable  of  vast  improvement. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  can  be  readily  under 
stood  why  the  Stonewall,  a  modern  ironclad  built  by 
the  French  for  the  late  Confederate  government,  was 
regarded  with  so  much  anxiety,  and  so  eagerly  sought 
by  each  side  in  the  war.  It  can  also  be  seen  why  we, 
fresh  from  the  greatest  war  of  modern  times,  should 
feel  little  concern  over  this  Falstaffian  array  of  Japa 
nese  braves.  If  the  Mikado  succeeded  in  securing  the 

126 


A  Threatened   Attack 

Stonewall,  his  avowed  purpose  was  to  drive  the  foreign 
ships  out  of  Japanese  waters,  and  we  all  hoped  that 
he  might  get  her  in  order  to  try  the  experiment — 
otherwise  our  sympathies  were  all  with  the  Tycoon  and 
his  brave  old  admiral. 

While  the  righting  continued  in  and  about  the  city 
of  Yeddo,  a  large  foreign  fleet  was  kept  constantly  in 
Yokohama  Bay.  When  the  Tycoon's  forces  were 
cleared  out  of  that  vicinity,  the  danger  became  even 
greater,  and  the  number  of  foreign  ships  was  increased. 
We  were  told  many  times  of  what  the  Mikado  meant 
to  do  to  us;  but  as  he  had  failed  to  do  any  of  these 
things,  we  naturally  grew  incredulous,  and  maybe 
somewhat  careless.  At  last,  however,  news  came 
through  the  American  minister  that  sent  a  thrill  of 
excitement  through  the  entire  foreign  fleet.  The  Japs, 
so  the  story  ran,  had  prepared  a  very  formidable  boat 
expedition  in  Yeddo,  and  were  coming  down  on  a 
certain  night  to  cut  out  the  Stonewall  and  carry  her 
away.  Their  preparations  were  reported  to  be  com 
plete,  and  there  was  to  be  a  very  large  force  em 
ployed.  On  receipt  of  this  news  most  of  the  foreign 
ships  got  under  way  and  anchored  well  out  in  the 
bay,  where  they  would  be  free  to  manoeuvre  when 
the  dreaded  ironclad  should  attack  them.  Admiral 
Rowan,  who  had  spent  many  days  within  four  hun 
dred  yards  of  Fort  Wagner  in  Charleston  Harbour, 
in  the  New  Ironsides,  believed  in  fighting  at  close 
quarters;  and  therefore,  after  clearing  his  ships  for 
action,  anchored  them  about  the  Stonewall  in  such 
positions  as  could  best  command  the  approach  to  her, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  ready  to  sink  her  if  the 

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A  Sailor's  Log 

Yeddo  force  really  succeeded  in  gaining  possession 
of  her. 

When  it  was  dark  all  the  American  ships  went  to 
general  quarters  and  prepared  for  battle.  The  men 
stood  by  their  guns  ready  to  open  fire,  while  a  sharp 
lookout  was  kept  for  the  hostile  Japanese  boats.  An 
officer  was  sent  on  board  the  Stonewall  with  orders  to 
remove  parts  of  her  machinery,  so  that  she  could  not 
get  under  way,  and  then  to  take  station  on  her  turret 
and  signal  the  approach  of  the  boats,  when  the  fleet 
would  open  with  grape  and  canister.  I  remember  well 
how  this  officer  felt  as  he  sat  on  top  of  the  turret,  torch 
in  hand,  waiting  to  make  the  signal.  There  was  an 
open  scuttle  near  his  feet,  which  he  was  prepared  to 
use  quickly  at  the  flash  of  the  first  gun.  Fortunately 
for  all  concerned,  the  authorities  saw  what  our  prepa 
rations  meant,  and  wisely  determined  to  wait  until 
they  could  gain  peaceable  possession  of  the  vessel, 
which  they  eventually  did,  after  giving  suitable  guar 
antees  for  her  conduct. 

When  conditions  permitted,  we  started  for  the 
south,  intending  to  stop  at  such  Japanese  ports  as  we 
were  permitted  to  visit  en  route.  These  were  Kobe 
and  Nagasaki,  and  three  miles  inland  was  our  limit, 
which  rule  also  applied  at  Yokohama.  From  Kobe,  our 
first  stopping  place,  I  visited  Osaka,  a  newly  opened 
port,  and  the  place  where  Admiral  Bell  had  lately  lost 
his  life. 

Dr.  H.  S.  Pitkin,  one  of  our  assistant  surgeons, 
and  I  obtained  three  days'  leave,  and  thoroughly 
enjoyed  every  hour  of  it.  There  was  not  such  a 
thing  as  a  hotel  known  at  Osaka,  but  we  managed 

128 


Curios   and   Coins 

to  find  two  rooms  in  which  we  could  sleep  and  store 
our  plunder;  the  days  we  spent  cruising  about  over 
the  queer  old  town,  buying  such  curios  as  struck  our 
fancy.  Lacquered  ware,  rare  and  old  and  valuable, 
was  offered  to  us  at  every  turn  for  almost  nothing. 
We  were  among  the  first  visitors,  and  the  market  had 
not  yet  been  spoiled  by  the  rich  globe-trotter.  The 
simple  and  honest  natives  offered  their  goods  to  us  at 
the  same  price  they  sold  them  to  their  own  people, 
and  I  am  sure  our  customs  officers  would  have  grown 
green  with  envy  if  they  had  seen  the  things  we  pur 
chased,  which,  by  the  way,  they  never  did. 

Pitkin  was  an  enthusiastic  collector  of  coins,  and 
during  our  first  day's  ramble  we  came  across  an  old 
Japanese  merchant  who  had  followed  the  same  line 
all  his  life.  He  showed  us  his  collection  with  great 
pride,  and  well  he  might,  for  it  was  one  of  the  finest 
in  Japan,  containing  about  one  thousand  coins,  a  few 
of  them  dating  before  the  time  of  Christ.  The  old 
man  had  no  intention  of  parting  with  them  at  any 
price,  but  the  doctor  wanted  them  and  wanted  them 
badly;  in  fact,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  have  them. 
That  night  we  counted  up  our  funds,  and  found 
that  we  could  spare  one  hundred  Mexican  dollars  for 
the  purchase.  The  next  day  we  made  the  offer,  which 
was  politely  refused.  Then  we  stacked  the  silver  dol 
lars  up  in  ten  piles,  and  then  in  twenty,  and  then  scat 
tered  them  about,  making  them  ring  as  much  as  pos 
sible.  Meanwhile  the  merchant  eyed  the  money,  and 
each  time  we  stacked  it  up  we  could  see  a  change  in 
his  face.  In  the  end  the  silver  won  the  day,  and  the 
coins,  case  and  all,  were  taken  to  our  rooms,  where  the 

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A  Sailor's  Log 

old  man  went  over  them  for  the  last  time,  and  tear 
fully  left  us  in  possession  of  what  it  had  taken  him  a 
lifetime  to  collect.  We  could  exchange  our  silver  for 
Japanese  gold,  weight  for  weight,  at  that  time.  What 
we  had  offered  him  was  probably  more  money  than  he 
had  ever  seen  before  at  one  time.  The  value  of  the 
collection  was  very  great.  It  is  now  the  property  of 
one  of  our  leading  universities. 

On  our  arrival  at  Nagasaki,  which  we  reached  by 
way  of  the  beautiful  inland  sea,  we  found  the  city 
crowded  with  Japanese  troops  of  the  Mikado  party. 
The  English  flagship  was  present,  and  there  was  much 
excitement  over  the  killing  of  two  of  her  men.  A 
party  of  soldiers  had  found  them  on  shore  somewhat 
the  worse  for  liquor,  and  at  once  cut  their  heads  offy 
left  their  bodies  in  the  gutter,  and  put  the  heads  on 
the  curbstone  in  front  of  the  consul's  house.  The 
admiral  demanded  immediate  satisfaction,  which  he 
of  course  received;  but  as  the  same  thing  was  liable  to 
happen  to  any  foreign  officer  or  man  who  was  caught 
on  shore  at  night,  the  prospect  was  not  pleasing.  The 
governor  of  the  province  represented  to  Admiral 
Rowan  that  our  officers  would  be  safe  if  they  wore 
two  swords — that  all  Japanese  officers  wore  two,  and 
that  only  enlisted  men  were  one-swordmen.  The  ad 
miral  replied  that  he  could  arrange  matters  in  a  simpler 
and  more  satisfactory  way,  and  immediately  issued  an 
order  that  all  officers  visiting  the  shore  should  wear  in 
their  belts  a  loaded  Remington  breech-loading  pistol, 
and  if  upon  meeting  a  Japanese  soldier  he  carried  his 
hand  to  his  sword  hilt,  they  were  to  shoot  him  at  once. 
This  was  done  because  the  sword  was  never  un- 

130 


Japanese    Honesty 

sheathed  except  for  use;  a  Japanese  who  drew  his 
sword  and  returned  it  without  drawing  blood  was  dis 
graced.  A  copy  of  this  order,  with  a  letter  of  explana 
tion,  was  sent  to  the  governor,  and  though  we  re 
mained  many  weeks  in  Nagasaki,  none  of  us  were  ever 
molested. 

The  contrast  between  the  Japanese  and  their 
neighbours,  the  Chinese,  was  at  this  time  very  strik 
ing  and  vastly  in  favour  of  the  former  people.  Since 
then  it  has  become  even  more  marked.  The  leading 
characteristic  of  the  Japanese  was  honesty.  It  was  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  trickiness,  not  to  say  dis 
honesty,  of  the  Chinese  as  a  race.  During  my  whole 
stay  in  Japan  I  was  constantly  tramping  about  the 
country,  shooting  or  wandering  over  strange  cities, 
picking  up  curios  here  and  there.  In  all  my  experi 
ence  I  never  had  anything  stolen  from  me,  though  at 
times  I  intrusted  articles  of  all  sorts  to  the  first  small 
boy  I  met  on  the  street,  to  be  delivered  to  my  boat 
or  at  my  hotel,  often  miles  away.  Every  article  was 
promptly  and  carefully  delivered.  If  such  an  experi 
ment  had  been  tried  in  China,  everything  would  have 
been  stolen. 

When  out  shooting  I  generally  had  with  me  a 
Japanese  lad  of  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age,  and 
we  frequently  went  far  beyond  the  three-mile  limit 
which  was  supposed  to  fence  us  in;  but  uniform  kind 
ness  and  courtesy  were  what  I  always  received  from 
the  people  among  whom  I  found  myself.  A  few  words 
of  explanation  from  my  faithful  boy  always  secured 
such  food  as  they  had,  and  frequently  quarters  for  the 
night.  The  houses  even  of  the  poorest  classes  were 


A  Sailor's  Log 

always  scrupulously  clean,  while  those  of  the  Chinese 
were  exactly  the  opposite.  The  Chinaman  was  a 
dandy  in  dress,  but  personally  vilely  dirty,  while  the 
Japanese  was  plainly  dressed,  but  in  person  as  clean 
and  neat  as  soap  and  water  could  make  him.  The  Chi 
nese  had  a  certain  shrewd  imitativeness  which  was 
much  misunderstood,  and  even  taken  by  many  persons 
for  an  indication  of  genius.  The  Japanese,  as  a  peo 
ple,  had  the  genius  of  progress  and  expansion,  with 
the  result  that  in  thirty  years  from  the  time  of  which 
I  am  writing  they  have  advanced  by  steady  strides, 
until  they  hold  a  proud  place  among  the  leading  na 
tions.  In  that  short  space  of  time  they  have  organ 
ized  an  army  which  is  second  only  to  the  German  in 
its  general  staff,  and  armed  as  well  as  the  best.  Its 
fighting  ability  was  shown  in  a  winter  campaign 
against  the  Chinese,  which  elicited  the  admiration  of 
all  military  critics.  At  the  same  time  their  navy  be 
came  the  wonder  of  modern  times  in  its  phenomenal 
development.  It  is  true  that  the  magnificent  ships 
were,  many  of  them,  paid  for  in  borrowed  money  or 
bonds;  but  the  way  they  fight  their  guns  and  handle 
their  fleet  will  prevent  any  sudden  foreclosing  of  mort 
gages  by  foreign  countries.  To-day  they  have  as  fine 
docks  and  dockyards  as  any  nation,  and  can  build 
and  arm  their  own  ships.  When  one  thinks  that  all 
this  has  been  done  in  less  than  thirty  years,  the  con 
clusion  can  not  be  avoided  that  Japan  has  broken  the 
record  in  expansion,  and  must  be  seriously  considered 
in  any  future  settlement  of  the  Eastern  question. 

I  had  occasion  to  witness  some  of  the  capital  pun 
ishments  of  Japan.    When  we  first  visited  the  country 

132 


An   Execution 

the  theft  of  more  than  thirty  dollars'  worth  of  any 
thing  was  considered  sufficient  ground  for  beheading 
the  thief.  I  saw  one  of  these  executions  when  four 
men  had  their  heads  cut  off  for  various  offences.  One 
of  them  was  a  young  boatman  who  had  often  served 
me  in  my  shooting  trips  about  Yokohama  Bay.  The 
execution  ground  was  a  cleared  space  in  the  edge  of  a 
wood  on  the  side  of  the  public  road  four  or  five  miles 
from  Yokohama,  and  was  in  no  way  screened  from 
the  view  of  the  public.  When  I  arrived  on  the  spot, 
about  sunrise,  everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  exe 
cution.  Four  small  pits  were  dug  in  the  ground  and 
the  earth  excavated  from  them  neatly  levelled  off,  and 
a  bucket  of  water  placed  near  each.  The  judges  who 
sentenced  the  men  to  death  sat  in  a  row  in  front  of  these 
pits  and  about  fifteen  feet  away.  The  executioner, 
who  had  cut  off  more  than  one  thousand  heads,  was 
in  attendance,  and  very  proud  of  his  sword,  the  keen 
edge  of  which  he  examined  from  time  to  time.  The 
hilt  was  carefully  wrapped  with  very  fine  white  linen. 
The  populace — men,  women,  and  children — stood 
about  the  inclosure  and  conversed  in  low  tones.  The 
four  condemned  men  were  brought  to  the  spot,  and 
quickly  seated  opposite  the  pits  with  their  legs  crossed 
under  them  tailor  fashion.  The  executioner  advanced 
to  the  man  on  the  left  of  the  line,  held  the  heavy,  keen- 
edged  sword  over  his  neck  for  a  moment,  and  then, 
bringing  his  left  hand  up  to  the  long  hilt  or  handle,  gave 
the  sword  a  sharp,  quick,  downward  jerk  toward  him 
and  the  man  was  dead.  The  head  fell  into  the  pit,  the 
trunk  dropping  forward;  the  blood  from  the  body  was 
discharged  into  the  same  place.  Stepping  quickly  to 
10  133 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  second  man,  his  head  dropped  off  the  same  way, 
and  so  on  to  the  third  and  fourth.  The  four  men 
were  dead  inside  of  two  minutes  after  they  were  seated 
near  the  pits.  Then  an  attendant  stepped  up  to  the 
first  pit,  took  the  head  by  the  hair,  dowsed  it  into 
the  bucket  of  water,  which  removed  all  blood  stains, 
and  then  held  it  up,  the  face  toward  the  judges,  who 
nodded  in  token  that  the  man  was  dead.  The  head 
was  then  placed  on  a  post  by  the  side  of  the  road,  as 
were  the  others  after  each  had  been  subjected  to  the 
inspection  of  the  judges,  and  here  they  remained  under 
guard  for  three  days  as  a  warning  to  others.  The 
bodies  were  doubled  up,  placed  in  coarse  bags,  and 
buried  on  the  spot.  The  whole  job  was  businesslike 
and  quickly  performed. 

If  there  is  anything  in  public  executions  calcu 
lated  to  deter  others  from  committing  crime,  Japan 
certainly  has  the  correct  method.  What  I  saw  on 
this  occasion  was  in  striking  contrast  to  the  hang 
ing  method  as  practised  in  most  of  the  States  in 
America.  These  poor  Japanese  convicts  were  killed 
as  quickly  as  possible,  and  that  they  experienced  no 
pain  was  evident  from  a  glance  at  the  dead  faces, 
each  one  of  which  bore  a  smile.  The  mode  of  execu 
tion  was  meant  to  be  quick  and  merciful,  just  the 
opposite  of  the  Chinese  method.  I  could  not  help 
thinking  that  it  was  far  ahead  of  our  practice,  where 
a  poor  devil  is  sung  over  and  prayed  over  for  days, 
then  marched  to  the  scaffold,  offered  time  to  address 
the  few  newspaper  correspondents  and  prison  officials 
present,  and  then  choked  to  death.  Electrocution, 
which  is  now  the  legal  process  in  some  States,  is  more 

134 


Indifference   to   Death 

merciful,  but  even  the  electric  spark  is  slow  in  pro 
ducing  death  when  compared  with  severing  the  spinal 
column  by  the  keen  edge  of  a  Japanese  sword  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  expert  in  its  use.  The  interval  be 
tween  the  time  when  the  man  is  in  full  possession  of 
all  his  faculties  and  when  he  is  stone  dead  is  incon 
ceivably  small.  When  the  men  who  were  executed 
at  the  time  of  which  I  have  just  written  were  brought 
on  to  the  execution  ground,  the  young  boatman  who 
attended  me  so  often  looked  up  at  me  and  smilingly 
said,  "  Good-bye."  The  Japanese  have  no  fear  of 
death,  and  in  this  one  characteristic  alone  I  found  them 
like  the  Chinese.  This  young  boatman  had,  while 
under  the  influence  of  too  much  saki,  a  Japanese 
liquor  made  from  rice,  overhauled  a  countryman  near 
Yokohama  and  pulled  him  from  his  chair,  which  he 
appropriated  for  himself  and  rode  in  it  to  the  city. 
He  was  charged  with  highway  robbery,  and  though  I 
did  all  in  my  power  to  save  him  he  was  convicted,  sen 
tenced,  and  executed. 


135 


CHAPTER  XII 

HONG-KONG   AND   THE    PHILIPPINES 

AFTER  leaving  Nagasaki,  which  we  did  with  great 
regret,  we  anchored  in  Hong-Kong  once  more.  Our 
men  had  not  yet  been  granted  shore  leave  generally, 
and,  as  this  seemed  a  favourable  place  for  the  purpose, 
they  were  sent  on  shore  by  watches,  starboard  watch 
one  day  and  port  watch  the  next,  as  was  then  the 
custom  in  the  service.  Naturally,  trouble  quickly  fol 
lowed.  The  American  Jacky  has  no  love  and  little 
respect  for  a  policeman.  The  absurd-looking  Mo 
hammedan  policeman  of  the  Hong-Kong  force  ex 
cited  his  mirth,  and  when  he  had  secured  a  sufficient 
number  of  drinks  he  proceeded  to  have  fun  with  him. 
In  a  short  time  the  turbans  and  clubs  were  all  in  pos 
session  of  the  sailors,  and  it  was  not  until  an  English 
regiment  had  been  put  on  duty  that  they  were  cor 
ralled  on  the  dock.  Then  they  fought  out  their  per 
sonal  difficulties,  and  were  brought  on  board  much 
battered  and  the  worse  for  wear,  but  having  had,  as 
they  claimed,  "  a  bang-up  good  time."  Five  or  six 
months  more  on  board  ship  fitted  them  excellently  for 
just  such  another  spree,  and  they  had  it  when  the 
time  came.  Fortunately,  we  do  things  differently  now. 

Among  my  other  possessions   I  was  the  happy 

136 


With   English   Officers 

owner  of  a  fine  bull  terrier — "  Jowler  " — who  could 
whip  any  dog  in  China;  at  least  he  had  whipped  every 
one  that  had  fought  with  him.  He  was  a  great  pet 
with  every  one  on  board  ship,  from  the  admiral  down, 
and  was  really  a  finely  bred,  beautifully  trained  dog. 
In  all  the  shore  riots  and  pleasures  he  was  an  important 
part.  The  men  would  come  to  the  mast  and  ask  for 
shore  leave  for  him  just  as  they  did  for  themselves. 
They  always  saw  to  it  that  he  whipped  everything  he 
came  in  contact  with,  man  or  beast,  and  the  result  was 
that  he  would  tackle  a  whole  menagerie,  if  the  chance 
offered.  After  shore  leave  he  generally  went  into  the 
hands  of  the  doctor,  along  with  Jacky,  to  have  his 
cuts  sewed  up  and  needed  repairs  made  before  he  ap 
peared  on  deck. 

Our  relations  with  the  English  military  people 
were  strictly  official  during  the  earlier  days  of  the 
cruise,  owing  to  the  bitter  feeling  engendered  by  the 
position  of  the  English  Government  during  the  civil 
war;  but  a  hint  from  their  Government  changed  all 
this  and  we  became  very  friendly.  They  were  courte 
ous,  hospitable  gentlemen,  and  we  enjoyed  their  mess 
dinners  wonderfully.  On  their  part  they  always 
seemed  willing  to  come  to  us  and  make  a  night  of  it 
whenever  we  were  ready.  On  the  22d  of  February 
we  gave  the  finest  entertainment  we  had  so  far  at 
tempted,  seating  over  one  hundred  guests,  most  of 
them  foreign  officers.  We  broke  up  at  i  A.  M.,  after 
a  beautiful  evening  long  to  be  remembered.  One  of 
our  English  army  guests  jumped  overboard  and  swam 
ashore,  where  I  delivered  his  sword  and  cap  to  him 
the  next  day  over  a  glass  of  brandy  and  soda.  Long 

137 


A  Sailor's  Log 

years  afterward  I  met  him  at  the  United  Service  Club 
in  London,  old  and  dignified,  and  looking  as  if  he  had 
never  been  young.  He  did,  however,  cheer  up  over 
another  glass  of  brandy  and  soda  and  the  old  Hong- 
Kong  episode. 

From  Hong-Kong  we  ran  down  to  Manila  to  have 
a  look  at  the  Spaniards  and  their  great  Eastern  colony. 
Owing  to  the  size  of  our  ship,  now  named  the  Dela 
ware,  we  had  to  anchor  well  out  in  the  bay,  and  visit 
ing  the  shore  was  quite  an  undertaking;  but  once  on 
shore  we  found  ourselves  well  repaid  for  our  trouble. 

The  city  was  beautiful,  and  under  Spanish  military 
rule  very  safe,  and  on  the  surface  clean  and  orderly.  The 
cafes  were  excellent,  and  the  music  of  the  bands  in  the 
afternoon  made  the  Lunetta  a  favourite  promenade. 
All  Manila  turned  out  to  look  at  each  other,  in  which 
it  did  not  differ  from  any  other  city  where  people  had 
so  little  to  do.  The  markets  were  good,  there  being 
at  all  seasons  fine  fish  and  splendid  tropical  fruits  in 
abundance,  principal  among  which  was  the  mango- 
steen,  that  queen  of  all  fruits.  The  tobacco  was  of  that 
peculiar  light  quality  which  grows  on  a  smoker's  taste. 
We  were  all  slaves  to  cheroots  before  the  cruise  was 
over. 

The  Spanish  authorities  gave  us  a  ball,  which  was 
largely  attended,  and  added  much  to  the  enjoyment 
of  our  visit.  We,  of  course,  returned  the  compli 
ment  and  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  on  board 
our  ship  not  only  all  the  officials  and  their  families, 
but  also  some  of  the  better  class  of  natives — mesti 
zos,  as  they  are  called — who  danced  and  behaved 
generally  most  becomingly.  The  ladies  were  shod 

138 


Sport   in   China 

with  sandals  only,  which  gave  one  a  good  view  of  their 
beautiful  feet.  After  a  delightful  visit  of  two  weeks 
we  again  sailed  down  the  grand  bay  of  Manila,  little 
dreaming  that  an  American  admiral  would  one  day 
make  it  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  naval  warfare  by 
showing  to  the  world  what  destruction  modern  ships 
and  modern  guns  could  cause  when  properly  handled. 

We  returned  to  Hong-Kong,  and,  as  the  hot 
season  approached,  retraced  our  way  toward  Japan 
and  the  north.  The  two  leading  elements  in  all  efforts 
to  civilize  so-called  barbarous  natives — cards  and 
whisky — were  in  full  blast  in  all  the  ports  we  visited, 
except  Kobe,  where  they  had  not  yet  had  time  to  take 
root.  One  had  only  to  stick  to  the  two  long  enough 
and  he  was  sure  to  be  ruined,  for  the  card  players  were 
expert  and  the  whisky  was  bad.  My  tastes  ran  rather 
toward  out-of-door  sports — boating,  shooting,  and 
fishing — and  I  found  my  amusement  in  this  line;  not 
that  I  did  not  drink  and  gamble  somewhat — I  could 
not  afford  to  be  so  much  out  of  the  fashion — but  most 
of  my  spare  time  was  given  to  athletics.  The  shoot 
ing  all  along  the  coast  was  excellent;  snipe  always  on 
the  marshes,  easy  to  get  at,  and  delicious  for  the  table. 
Golden  pheasants  were  in  great  numbers  only  a  short 
distance  from  Shanghai,  and  a  house-boat  party  after 
them  was  one  of  the  pleasantest  sprees  one  could  have. 
We  killed  them  sometimes  as  many  as  one  hundred 
to  the  gun  per  day.  The  natives  were  not  allowed 
to  use  firearms,  and  the  game  in  consequence  was 
plentiful  and  easy  to  get. 

The  trapping  of  all  sorts  of  wild  things  by  both 
Chinese  and  Japanese  was  very  skilfully  done,  par- 

139 


A  Sailor's  Log 

ticularly  so  by  the  Chinese,  who  would  at  any  time 
bring  us  all  the  teal  ducks  or  snipe  we  wanted  alive 
from  their  traps.  They  were  not  yet  sufficiently 
civilized  to  charge  us  three  prices  for  things,  so 
that  we  lived  reasonably  well  at  a  very  moderaate 
cost.  The  Japanese  caught  most  of  their  game  with 
a  gum  which  they  called  torri-mouchi.  Even  deer  were 
caught  in  this  way;  any  bird  or  animal  that  touched 
it  was  sure  to  stick  fast  until  it  was  removed  by 
cutting  off  the  foot.  I  never  tried  the  gum,  but  I 
certainly  had  some  wonderful  days  in  Japan  with  my 
gun.  My  favourite  sport  was  snipe-shooting,  but  I 
sometimes  went  after  ducks  and  waders,  such  as  cur 
lew  and  plover,  and  when  such  occasions  offered,  our 
wardroom  table  was  sure  to  be  good  for  some  days 
afterward. 

Once  only  did  I  meet  with  any  mishap.  Two 
companions,  officers  of  the  ship,  were  with  me,  when 
one  of  them,  in  his  anxiety  to  kill  all  the  plover 
that  were  in  a  flock,  got  me  in  range  with  them  and 
loaded  me  up  pretty  well  with  shot.  Fortunately, 
none  of  them  struck  about  my  eyes,  and  half  an  hour's 
careful  work  with  a  sharp  knife  removed  them  all. 
The  officer  was  dreadfully  mortified,  and  I  really  be 
lieve  suffered  more  than  I  did.  On  another  occasion 
the  marine  officer,  a  very  fat,  heavy  man,  walked  into 
a  quicksand  while  we  were  shooting  snipe  and  came 
near  losing  his  life.  I  found  him  when  he  had  sunk 
in  up  to  his  armpits,  and  my  boatman  and  I  had  all 
we  could  do  to  pull  him  out. 

My  boating  experiences  would  make  a  very  long 
story  were  I  to  tell  them  all.  The  admiral's  barge,  a 

140 


Boat   Racing 

fourteen-oared  cutter,  was  built  at  the  New  York 
Navy  Yard,  and  it  was  soon  seen  that  she  was  a  very 
fast  boat,  both  under  sail  and  oars.  I  was  very  fond 
of  racing,  and  naturally  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  take  charge 
of  and  train  the  racing  crew.  We  had  plenty  of  splen 
did  men  to  choose  from,  and  in  a  few  months  I  had  a 
crew  that  could  pull  six  miles  from  start  to  finish 
without  distress.  I  used  to  say  that  one  could  crack 
walnuts  on  any  of  them  without  marking  his  skin, 
and  I  really  believe  one  could  have  done  so.  They 
were  a  fine,  sandy  lot  of  chaps,  and  were  never  beaten 
while  we  were  on  the  station,  though  we  challenged 
all  the  ships  we  met,  and  raced  with  all  who  dared  to 
accept. 

Probably  the  most  notable  race  we  pulled  was  that 
in  Hong-Kong  on  the  French  emperor's  birthday. 
The  French  admiral  was  determined  to  take  the  cham 
pionship  away  from  us,  and  to  do  so  had  built  a 
sixteen-oared  mahogany  barge,  which  was  light  and 
supposed  to  be  very  fast.  The  crew  trained  at  night, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  an  idea  of  what  they 
were  like;  but  I  succeeded  at  last,  by  watching  them 
closely  and  surprising  them  in  the  darkness,  in  get 
ting  a  line  on  them.  I  was  convinced  that  we  could 
beat  them,  and  advised  all  our  people  to  bet  that 
way,  which  they  did;  and  as  the  betting  was  at  long 
odds  on  the  French  boat,  many  of  us  did  not  have  to 
trouble  the  paymaster  for  months.  As  the  day  for 
the  race  approached,  the  flagships  of  the  different  na 
tions — French,  English,  American,  and  Russian — were 
moored  on  the  course,  where  all  could  have  a  good 
view  of  the  race  from  start  to  finish.  Six  boats  were 

141 


A  Sailor's  Log 

entered — two  French,  two  English,  and  two  Ameri 
can — and  the  distance  to  be  pulled  was  six  miles,  three 
miles  away  and  a  turn.  I  was  lucky  enough  to  draw 
the  position  next  the  starting  boat,  which  insured  my 
getting  off  promptly  at  the  word.  Next  to  me  was  the 
French  barge,  on  which  so  much  money  had  been  bet. 
She  certainly  did  look  very  fit  and  dangerous,  but  six 
miles  is  a  long  way,  and  I  knew  that  I  had  wind  and 
muscle  in  my  boat.  The  day  before  the  race  every 
man  in  the  Delaware  drew  all  the  money  that  was  due 
him,  and  bet  it,  of  course.  Deck  buckets  of  silver 
dollars  were  taken  on  board  the  French  flagship,  sized 
up  against  theirs,  and  placed  under  guard.  Everybody 
was  betting,  and  all,  except  our  crew,  were  backing 
the  French  boat  to  win. 

The  first  mile  of  the  course  was  packed  on  either 
side  with  boats  crowded  with  people  and  covered  with 
flags,  and  must  have  presented  a  beautiful  sight  to 
those  who  had  time  to  observe  it.  I  was  not  able  to 
see  much  of  it.  I  was  busy  watching  that  red-coloured 
French  barge,  and  occasionally  glancing  at  the  four 
teen  hard-set,  anxious  faces  in  my  boat.  At  last  we 
were  on  the  line,  oars  pointed  forward,  feet  firmly 
braced  against  the  stretchers,  mouths  shut  like  steel 
traps,  and  every  muscle  and  nerve  tense  almost  to  the 
point  of  breaking.  "  Are  you  ready? "  and  then 
"Go!"  came  from  the  starter.  With  one  beautiful 
flash  of  the  oars  we  all  caught  the  water  together,  and 
were  off.  I  could  feel  my  heart  thump  in  my  throat  as 
I  saw,  with  one  eye,  the  light  French-built  boat  shoot 
out  half  a  length  ahead  of  us,  and  with  the  other  eye 
the  fourteen  faces  all  turned  on  mine.  Three  hard, 

142 


Midshipman  and  Captain. 


An    American   Victory 

quick  strokes  had  set  us  going,  and  for  a  moment  the 
red  barge  seemed  to  be  tied  to  us,  so  even  was  our  pace; 
then  I  could  see  my  starboard  bow-oar  slowly,  inch  by 
inch,  dip  out  ahead  of  her.  About  five  hundred  yards 
from  the  start  was  a  bunch  of  American  boats  crowded 
with  yelling  lunatics,  and  as  I  approached  them  I  spoke 
a  word  to  the  crew,  signaled  the  stroke  to  rise  to  forty, 
and  before  the  Frenchman  knew  what  had  happened 
to  him  he  had  our  wash,  and,  barring  accidents,  the 
race  was  won.  Then  we  settled  down  to  our  long, 
swinging  thirty-two  strokes,  which  were  to  last  the 
rest  of  the  distance.  The  French  crew  began  yelling 
when  we  passed  them,  and  I  believe  they  kept  it  up 
to  the  finish. 

It  struck  me  as  about  the  worst  use  I  had  ever 
known  a  racing  crew  to  put  their  lungs  to,  but  it 
pleased  me  immensely  to  have  them  do  it.  At  the 
turning  buoy  we  were  thirty  seconds  ahead,  and 
on  the  pull  in  we  gained  one  minute.  Crossing  the 
finish  line,  I  tossed  oars  for  a  second  as  the  gun 
flashed,  and  then  pulled  to  the  ship  at  the  same  racing 
speed.  As  I  shot  alongside,  the  tackles  were  hooked 
and  the  boat  run  up  to  the  davits,  crew  and  all.  All 
hands  tumbled  out  on  deck,  and  when  the  French 
barge  crossed  the  line  our  boat  was  quietly  hanging 
at  the  davits,  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  It  was  only 
a  boat  race,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  a  grand  one,  and  we 
won  it.  The  boat  from  the  Iroquois  came  in  second, 
so  we  had  all  the  honours  as  well  as  all  the  money. 

While  we  were  anchored  at  Hong-Kong  news 
came  of  the  sinking  of  the  Oneida,  one  of  our  squad 
ron  and  the  "  chum  "  ship  of  the  Delaware.  She  had 

143 


A  Sailor's  Log 

been  run  down  by  the  English  mail  steamer  Bombay 
in  Yokohama  Bay  and  all  hands  lost;  at  least  so  the 
story  ran.  Later  and  more  reliable  news  was  to  the 
effect  that  the  ship  and  most  of  her  officers  and  men 
were  lost,  but  that  about  fifty  of  them  had  been  saved. 
We  were  under  way  by  daylight  the  following  morn 
ing,  bound  for  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  As  we  en 
tered  Yokohama  Bay  we  stopped  and  lowered  a  boat, 
and  I  was  sent  to  report  what  I  could  make  out  of  the 
wreck.  The  main  truck,  the  top  of  the  main  royal 
mast,  was  just  awash,  and  as  I  held  on  to  it  and 
looked  down  into  the  clear  water  I  could  see  the  yards 
and  the  neatly  furled  sails,  but  nothing  else.  The  ship 
was  resting  on  the  bottom  on  her  keel,  upright,  the 
grave  of  nearly  two  hundred  as  brave  hearts  as  ever 
sailed  under  the  dear  old  flag. 

The  court  that  followed  showed  clearly  how  the 
Bombay  had  carelessly  cut  the  Oneida  down  and  sunk 
her,  and  how  her  captain  had  done  a  thing  most  un 
usual  for  men  of  his  race — sailed  away  and  left  the 
victims  of  his  carelessness  to  drown.  But  in  drowning 
they  reflected  only  credit  on  their  country,  for  they 
stood  at  their  quarters  and  went  down  like  men,  with 
out  a  whimper.  We  buried  some  of  the  poor  chaps, 
but  most  of  them  were  never  recovered.  The  Bom 
bay  was  fortunately  not  in  Yokohama  when  we  ar 
rived;  if  she  had  been  there,  it  would  have  required 
hard  work  to  control  our  officers  and  men  and  pre 
vent  some  sort  of  a  demonstration  against  her.  The 
Oneida  was  homeward  bound  when  she  was  sunk,  and 
her  loss  cast  a  gloom  over  the  entire  squadron. 

My  promotion  to  the  grade  of  lieutenant  com- 
144 


At  Singapore 

mander  came  soon  after  we  reached  Hong-Kong,  dur 
ing  the  first  year  of  the  cruise.  It  was  thought  at  first 
that  I  would  be  detached  and  ordered  to  some  other 
vessel,  but  Admiral  Rowan  believed  in  keeping  both 
officers  and  men  in  the  ships  in  which  they  commis 
sioned  during  the  entire  cruise  wh;n  possible,  and  so 
I  was  not  disturbed.  Captain  Ammen,  who  was  re 
spected  and  loved  by  all  of  us,  was  detached,  and  came 
home  to  be  appointed  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Naviga 
tion,  and  Captain  Earl  English  transferred  to  us  from 
the  command  of  the  Iroquois.  He  was  one  of  the 
ablest  seamen  in  the  navy,  and  a  prime  favourite  with 
officers  and  men.  His  tastes  were  for  out-of-door 
sports,  and  he  and  I  spent  many  happy  hours  tramping 
over  the  rice  fields  of  China  and  Japan  in  search  of 
game.  Our  cruise,  continued  until  the  summer  of 
1869,  was  nearly  spent  when  we  proceeded  to  Singa 
pore,  there  to  await  the  arrival  of  our  relief,  the  steam 
frigate  Colorado,  Admiral  John  Rodgers. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SOME    ORIENTAL    DIVERSIONS 

THE  life  in  Singapore  at  this  time  was  simply  ideal, 
and  I  enjoyed  it  to  the  full.  The  climate  was  hot,  but 
not  unbearable,  not  even  hurtful  to  those  who  could 
and  would  take  reasonable  care  of  themselves.  No 
work  was  done  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  One  lived 
his  life  at  night,  so  to  speak,  when  the  cool  sea  breeze 
made  existence  very  enjoyable.  The  temperature 
varied  only  a  few  degrees — about  three — during  the 
year,  say  from  one  hundred  and  seven  to  one  hun 
dred  and  ten.  So  also  at  10  P.  M.  the  temperature 
ran  from  eighty  to  eighty-five  during  the  year.  The 
mornings  were  fine  for  sleeping,  and  if  one  remained 
carefully  in  the  shade  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  he 
could  enjoy  the  evening  and  night.  Our  men  were 
thoroughly  well  drilled,  and  the  admiral  therefore  re 
duced  the  exercises  to  the  minimum. 

The  Colorado  was  much  delayed  in  her  passage  out, 
so  that  we  remained  at  our  anchorage  four  months  be 
fore  she  appeared.  Every  day  had  its  pleasures  for  me, 
however.  We  were  all  invited  to  dine  out  every  day, 
and  sometimes  had  two  or  more  invitations  for  the 
same  day.  We  dined  with  all  sorts  of  people,  for  every 
one  was  anxious  to  have  us;  native  princes,  foreign 

146 


The    Land   of  Cobras 

ministers,  military  messes,  and  civilians  all  asked  us, 
and  we  went  to  them  all,  first  and  last.  The  governor 
was  most  hospitable,  and  I  enjoyed  many  pleasant 
evenings  with  his  charming  daughters.  One  of  the 
military  bands  furnished  music  every  afternoon  in  the 
public  square,  and  here  we  all  met  for  an  hour  for  the 
latest  gossip,  after  which  we  drank  tea  somewhere  and 
then  prepared  for  dinner,  which  was  the  feature  of 
the  day. 

Five  of  us  hired  a  bungalow  on  shore,  and  regu 
larly  set  up  our  establishment,  which  was  a  very  sim 
ple  one,  but  at  the  same  time  most  comfortable  and 
convenient.  It  was  situated  on  the  edge  of  the  jungle 
near  one  of  the  best  hotels,  from  which  we  obtained 
our  meals.  It  was,  of  course,  headquarters  for  all 
officers  when  on  shore,  particularly  for  those  who  had 
to  remain  ashore  all  night.  We  had  only  five  beds, 
but  they  were  very  elastic,  and  could  be  made  on 
occasion  to  hold  a  great  many  men.  Cobras  and  taran 
tulas  were  very  common  "  varmints,"  and  no  one  there 
fore  slept  much  on  the  floor  or  porches.  Snake- 
charmers,  jugglers,  and  fakirs  generally  abounded,  and 
some  of  them  could  always  be  found  near  our  bun 
galow. 

One  morning,  as  five  of  us  sat  taking  our  morn 
ing  fruit  and  coffee,  the  Chinese  attendant  broke 
into  the  room  almost  paralyzed  with  fear,  screaming, 
"Cobra!  cobra!"  In  a  moment  we  had  located  a 
large,  vicious-looking  reptile  in  the  back  yard,  and  the 
happy  thought  came  to  some  one  to  send  for  a  snake- 
charmer  and  test  his  qualities  on  this  specimen,  which 
had  evidently  just  crawled  out  of  the  jungle.  In  five 

147 


A  Sailor's  Log 

minutes,  or  possibly  less,  the  charmer  appeared,  and 
proceeded  to  do  the  neatest  trick  I  ever  witnessed. 
He  was  a  Mohammedan,  about  forty  years  of  age, 
stripped  to  the  waist,  and  carrying  a  sealskin  bag  with 
the  fur  on  the  inside,  in  which  he  had  a  large  collec 
tion  of  cobras  and  other  snakes.  He  stood  quietly 
watching  the  newcomer  for  a  few  moments,  evidently 
sizing  him  up,  and  then,  producing  a  small  reed  fife, 
began  blowing  it,  making  a  sharp  monotonous  noise. 
At  the  same  time  an  assistant  some  yards  behind  him 
beat  slowly  on  a  small  tom-tom,  or  drum.  The  two 
advanced  slowly  to  the  middle  of  the  small  inclosure, 
and  when  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from  their  quest  seated 
themselves  quietly  on  the  ground  and  continued  their 
music,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  noise.  The  cobra 
in  the  meantime  was  much  excited,  and  showed  signs 
of  fight.  He  rapidly  coiled  himself,  raised  a  foot  or 
two  of  his  body  vertically,  spread  his  hood,  and  gen 
erally  looked  very  ugly.  The  monotonous  noise  of 
the  performers  continued,  and  the  cobra  shifted  his 
position  first  to  the  side,  and  then  directly  toward  the 
charmers,  always  watching  them  closely  with  his  keen, 
scintillating  eyes.  After  half  an  hour  of  this  play  he 
was  almost  between  the  feet  of  the  Mohammedan,  and 
as  he  raised  himself  and  spread  his  hood  we  all  ex 
pected  to  see  him  strike  and  end  the  performance;  but 
instead,  the  man  reached  out  his  hand,  slowly  seized 
the  cobra  by  the  neck,  and,  rising  with  him,  held  him 
limp  in  the  air  for  a  moment,  and  then  deposited  him 
in  the  bag  with  his  other  snakes.  The  Chinaman  had 
in  the  meantime  bolted;  nothing  could  induce  him 
to  stay  longer  in  such  a  dangerous  spot.  The  assistant 

148 


A   Thrilling   Experience 

took  his  departure,  and  the  charmer,  with  his  bag  of 
snakes,  stepped  into  our  dining  room  for  a  parting 
drink. 

The  unfortunate  thought  came  to  one  of  our 
men  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  get  the  Moham 
medan  drunk  to  see  what  he  would  do;  so  he  pre 
pared  a  dose  for  him  that  was  very  effective.  He 
poured  a  good  stiff  drink  of  brandy  into  a  beer  glass, 
and  then  rilled  it  with  gin  instead  of  water.  The 
charmer  took  kindly  to  the  drink,  and  in  a  short  time 
rolled  out  of  his  chair  on  to  the  floor  very  drunk,  and 
was  soon  fast  asleep.  The  bag  of  snakes  had  not  been 
thought  of  up  to  this  time,  but  it  also  fell,  and  the 
inhabitants  quickly  spread  over  the  floor.  In  the 
meantime  five  American  officers  took  to  the  table,  and 
drawing  their  feet  up  carefully,  remained  there  until 
the  snake-charmer  slept  off  his  dose.  He  snored 
quietly  while  the  snakes  crawled  over  and  around  him, 
but  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  finally  came  to  him 
self,  secured  his  pets,  and  took  them  away.  We  did 
not  repeat  that  experiment. 

I  went  one  Sunday  to  breakfast  with  an  English 
officer  who  was  quartered  some  distance  in  the  coun 
try  among  the  hills  in  a  very  neat  one-story  bungalow. 
I  arrived  early,  found  my  bachelor  friend  in  his  bath, 
and,  lighting  a  cheroot,  sat  waiting  for  him  to  show 
up.  In  a  few  moments  I  heard  a  sharp  exclamation 
from  him,  and  on  turning  my  head  saw  him  in  his 
bath  dress  looking  back  into  the  bathroom,  which  he 
had  just  left.  He  had  discovered  a  cobra,  which  had 
been  under  the  tub  while  he  was  in  it,  and  was  now 
reared  up  and  looking  into  the  tub.  It  was  enough 
ii  149 


A  Sailor's  Log 

to  give  one  the  shivers  to  think  what  a  close  call  he 
had  had.  My  friend  left  me  for  a  few  moments,  and 
then  came  back  with  a  mongoose,  or  jungle  cat,  which 
is  the  deadly  enemy  of  the  cobra.  The  small  cat  when 
released  seemed  to  be  all  tail,  but  he  knew  his  business, 
and  did  it  in  a  way  to  excite  my  unbounded  admira 
tion.  The  fight  between  the  two  was  short,  but  very 
exciting.  Several  times  it  looked  as  if  the  cobra  must 
win,  but  the  cat  managed,  somehow,  to  avoid  the 
lightning-like  strokes,  and  finally  fastened  on  the  back 
of  the  snake's  neck  and  killed  it.  I  looked  carefully 
under  the  table  as  I  sat  down  to  breakfast,  to  be  sure 
that  I  should  not  have  a  cobra  coiling  himself  in  my 
lap  before  I  had  finished.  The  bite  of  this  snake  is 
so  absolutely  fatal  that  I  never  cared  to  take  any 
chances  with  it. 

While  we  were  cruising  in  the  waters  about  Java 
and  Singapore  we  saw  hundreds  of  the  salt-water  snakes 
said  to  be  so  deadly.  Sometimes  the  sea  would  be 
dotted  with  them,  swimming  with  the  head  well  out  of 
water,  and  diving  always  on  the  approach  of  the  ship. 
Many  tales  were  told  of  the  ravages  of  these  pests, 
which  climbed  up  the  chains  or  into  the  ports  of  ves 
sels  at  anchor  and  stung  people  to  death.  I  noticed 
that  all  the  fishermen  about  Singapore  carried  long, 
heavy  knives,  which  they  told  me  were  used  in  killing 
the  snakes  as  the  fishing  nets  were  hauled  in.  We 
never  succeeded  in  catching  one,  though  we  saw  thou 
sands  of  them. 

Early  in  August,  1870,  the  admiral  concluded  that 
we  had  had  enough  of  Singapore,  so  we  said  good 
bye  to  all  our  friends  who  had  entertained  us  so  lav- 

150 


Racing   the   Colorado 

ishly,  and  sailed  for  Batavia  in  the  island  of  Java, 
where  we  drank  no  end  of  gin,  and  behaved  generally 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Dutch.  I  don't  think  any  of 
us  enjoyed  our  stay  very  much,  as  we  were  expecting 
our  relief  hourly,  and  took  little  interest  in  anything 
else.  But  the  Colorado  would  not  come,  no  matter 
how  anxiously  we  looked  for  her;  so  the  admiral,  who 
was  by  this  time  tired  of  waiting,  steamed  over  to  the 
Straits  Settlement  in  the  Straits  of  Java,  where  we 
learned  that  she  had  passed  in  the  day  before  bound 
for  Singapore.  Back  we  went  as  fast  as  steam  and 
sails  could  carry  us,  and  on  our  arrival  found  her  there 
waiting  for  us. 

The  transfer  of  commands  began  at  once  and  was 
soon  completed,  but  before  we  sailed  we  must  have 
one  more  boat  race.  The  Colorado  had  brought  out 
a  barge  which  was  considered  very  fast,  and  our 
admiral  naturally  wanted  to  have  the  fastest  boat  on 
the  station  to  defend  the  championship  we  had  held 
so  long.  I  pulled  under  the  bows  of  the  newcomer 
and  challenged,  which  was  accepted,  and  a  race  ar 
ranged  for  the  following  day.  Our  racing  crew  had, 
of  course,  grown  stale  from  the  effects  of  climate  and 
want  of  regular  practice,  but  they  were  better  than 
the  Colorado's  by  long  odds.  As  soon  as  I  saw  the 
boats  in  the  water  I  felt  a  warning  of  the  good  lick 
ing  we  got.  They  beat  us  twenty  seconds  in  four  miles 
after  one  of  the  hardest  races  I  was  ever  in.  The  boat 
did  it,  for  our  men  were  in  good  shape  at  the  finish, 
while  the  other  crew  was  pulled  to  a  standstill.  The 
Daring — that  was  her  name — became  afterward  the 
most  celebrated  man-of-war  cutter  that  was  ever  in 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  East.  She  beat  everything  she  ever  raced  with, 
either  under  oars  or  sails;  even  the  shell  boats  of  the 
Shanghai  Club  could  not  hold  her.  When  the  race 
was  over  we  pulled  alongside  the  Colorado,  and  each 
man  shouldered  his  oar  with  its  silver  bands  on  the 
blade,  marched  on  board,  and  deposited  it  on  the  quar 
ter-deck  as  a  present  to  the  newcomers.  I  had  our 
beautiful  black  gamecock  under  my  arm  as  a  present 
to  the  admiral;  it  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  been 
in  a  race  without  crowing  at  the  finish.  Admiral 
Rodgers  ordered  a  decanter  of  wine,  which  was  placed 
on  the  capstan  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  my  crew 
drank  success  to  the  Daring.  The  racing  days  of  the 
Delaware's  boat  were  over,  but  we  felt  sure  she  had 
a  worthy  successor. 

On  August  22,  1870,  we  broke  out  our  homeward- 
bound  pennant,  which  was  longer  than  the  ship,  catted 
our  anchor  with  three  cheers,  and  stood  out  of  the 
harbour.  Our  China  cruise  was  over,  and  none  of  us 
regretted  either  that  we  had  had  it  or  that  it  was 
behind  us. 

Our  run  across  the  Indian  Ocean  was  truly  a  grand 
one.  We  held  the  trades  fresh  all  the  way  to  Cape 
Town,  where  we  arrived  and  anchored  without  more 
serious  mishap  than  the  loss  of  a  few  light  sails.  After 
resting  a  week  we  again  got  under  way  and  ran  down 
to  St.  Helena,  and  all  hands  had  a  chance  to  see  that 
celebrated  and  beautiful  island.  I  paid  a  visit  to 
Longwood  and  saw  the  various  Napoleon  relics,  which 
a  major  of  the  French  army  took  great  pains  to  ex 
plain  to  me,  not  forgetting  any  of  the  incidents  which 
reflected  discredit  on  the  emperor's  English  guardians. 

152 


Return   to    New   York 

Before  we  left,  the  mail  steamer  came  in,  and  the  major, 
taking  one  glance  at  the  papers,  burst  into  tears.  Se 
dan  had  been  added  to  the  long  list  of  French  defeats. 
I  could  not  help  thinking  as  I  walked  back  to  my  boat  « 
how  fortunate  it  was  for  Germany  that  the  real  Na 
poleon  was  dead. 

After  leaving  St.  Helena  we  reached  New  York  in 
forty-seven  days,  certainly  a  fine  run  for  a  ship  drag 
ging  a  four-bladed  screw.  As  we  entered  the  Nar 
rows  the  Guerriere  was  made  out  inside  the  Hook, 
bound  for  Brazil.  She  saluted  us  with  seventeen  guns, 
which  was  the  first  intimation  we  had  that  Admiral 
Rowan  had  been  made  vice-admiral.  Our  officers  and 
crew  were  wild  with  delight,  and  cheered  until  the 
admiral  showed  himself  on  deck.  It  was  a  splendid 
reward  for  his  magnificent  conduct  during  the  civil 
war,  and  made  solely  on  his  merits.  At  the  time  it 
was  done  he  was  at  sea,  out  of  reach  of  anything 
like  political  influence,  and  not  even  where  he  could 
be  communicated  with.  Once  in  our  history,  any 
how,  the  man  who  deserved  it  was  made  vice-ad 
miral. 

We  anchored  off  the  Battery  for  a  few  days,  and 
then  went  to  the  navy  yard,  where  we  got  rid  of  our 
trash — stripped  the  ship,  put  her  out  of  commission, 
and  paid  off  the  crew.  My  dog  "  Jowler  "  was  miss 
ing  soon  after  the  men  left,  and  I  never  saw  him 
again.  Many  months  afterward  I  received  a  note  from 
one  of  the  racing  crew  begging  me  to  forgive  him  for 
stealing  my  dog,  and  asking  me  if  I  ever  came  to 
Brooklyn  to  come  and  see  him  at  a  certain  saloon 
which  he  mentioned.  He  said  he  loved  the  dog  so 

153 


A  Sailor's  Log 

that  he  simply  had  to  have  him;  that  he  knew  I  would 
not  sell  him,  so  he  had  to  steal  him. 

I  was  granted  a  short  leave  after  this  cruise,  and 
before  it  was  up  was  ordered  to  duty  in  the  Ordnance 
Department  of  the  Washington  Navy  Yard,  where  I 
had  interesting  work  during  the  winter.  Admiral 
Goldsborough,  an  officer  of  the  old  school,  was  in 
command  of  the  yard,  which  insured  a  lively  time  for 
all  hands;  and  Commander  F.  M.  Ramsay,  the  in 
spector  of  ordnance,  was  not  noted  for  allowing  those 
under  his  command  to  neglect  their  work  or  spend 
many  idle  moments. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  winter  that  I  became 
engaged  to  Miss  Charlotte  Taylor,  of  Washington, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Franck  Taylor,  and  sister  of  my  class 
mate,  Harry  C.  Taylor,  now  one  of  the  most  distin 
guished  officers  of  our  navy. 


154 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A    NEW   VIEW    OF   ANNAPOLIS 

IN  July  of  the  following  year  I  was  married,  and 
after  spending  the  summer  at  the  North,  was  assigned 
to  duty  at  that  Mecca  of  young  married  people,  the 
Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  Maryland.  Things  had 
changed  wonderfully  since  my  school  days,  and  during 
my  first  year  there  I  found  that  I  had  to  study  nearly 
all  night  in  order  to  instruct  the  midshipmen  during 
the  day.  I  say  "  instruct  "  the  midshipmen,  but  there 
really  was  very  little  instruction  given  them.  It  re 
quired  all  my  time  to  hear  them  tell  me  what  they 
knew  or  did  not  know.  The  system  was  afterward 
changed  to  a  much  better  one,  under  which  really 
valuable  instruction  was  given.  During  the  second 
year  of  my  detail  I  had  more  leisure,  and  a  fine  setter 
dog  and  a  catboat  helped  me  to  bear  the  most  "unde 
sirable  duty  I  have  ever  had  in  the  navy.  Wild  ducks 
and  quail  were  to  be  had,  and  I  thoroughly  enjoyed 
getting  them,  and  did  get  a  good  many  first  and  last. 
I  bred  and  trained  my  own  dogs,  and  in  this  training 
at  least  I  was  successful. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  the  first  coloured  cadet 
was  appointed  to  the  Naval  Academy.  He  came  upon 
us  suddenly,  and  before  we  knew  it  he  had  passed  his 

155 


A  Sailor's  Log 

examination  and  appeared  in  uniform,  with  a  coloured 
girl  as  his  companion.  The  place  was  in  an  uproar  at 
once,  and  the  excitement  among  all  classes  was  in 
tense.  As  I  walked  along  the  row  of  officers'  quarters, 
all  the  coloured  servants  were. at  the  front  gates  dis 
cussing  the  news.  When  I  reached  my  own  quarters 
my  dining-room  boy,  a  small,  copper-coloured  imp, 
with  his  eyes  sticking  out  of  his  head,  said  to  me,  "  My 
Lord,  Mr.  Evans,  a  nigger  done  enter  the  Naval  Acad 
emy!  "  That  was  what  we  were  all  feeling,  though  we 
expressed  ourselves  somewhat  differently. 

The  first  consideration  was,  of  course,  to  see  that 
no  bodily  harm  came  to  the  lad,  who  had  not  been 
wisely  advised,  and  did  not  behave  himself  in  a  way 
to  induce  respect  from  those  around  him.  Our  sec 
ond  thought  was  for  the  reputation  of  the  naval 
school,  that  nothing  unworthy  its  grand  record  should 
take  place.  The  great  danger  was  from  the  system 
of  hazing,  which  had  grown  to  very  deplorable  pro 
portions,  and  which  we  were  bending  our  energies  to 
destroy.  In  our  efforts  to  protect  the  coloured  boy 
we  ran  into  the  error  of  favouring  him  too  much,  and 
he  soon  came  to  give  himself  undue  importance.  He 
fancied  that  he  was  an  issue  which  the  authorities  of 
the  school  dared  not  meet — which,  though  a  natural 
mistake  to  make,  was  a  fatal  one  for  him  in  the  end. 
After  being  dismissed  several  times  by  court-martial, 
and  each  time  restored  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who  could  not  bring  himself  to  believe  that  politics 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  sentence  of  the  court — • 
how  should  he,  poor  man? — the  boy  was  really  un 
bearable. 


Coloured   Cadets 

In  the  same  class  was  a  youngster  from  New 
York  city,  a  bootblack  by  profession,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  to  the  academy  by  Mr.  S.  S.  Cox,  who  repre 
sented  a  district  in  Congress.  Some  of  us  thought 
that  politics  might  have  had  something  to  do  with 
this  appointment.  At  any  rate,  the  two  lads,  the  col 
oured  representative  of  the  great  State  of  South  Caro 
lina  and  the  bootblack  from  the  great  city  of  New 
York,  were  appointed  to  room  together,  with  the  re 
sult  that  each  succeeded  in  having  the  other  dismissed 
in  a  few  months.  I  well  remember  one  night  when  I 
was  on  duty  as  officer  in  charge  of  cadet  quarters,  that 
the  coloured  cadet  was  reported  as  missing.  It  was 
in  the  middle  of  a  cold,  raw  night,  and  after  a  long, 
careful  search  no  sign  could  be  found  of  him.  I  was 
about  to  report  the  matter  to  the  commandant  of 
cadets,  when  I  heard  a  curious  barking  among  some 
tall  trees  in  the  grounds,  as  if  a  dog  were  tied  up.  On 
investigation,  I  found  the  missing  cadet  in  the  top 
of  a  tree,  very  scantily  clad,  and  barking  with  all  his 
might  because  some  senior  classmen  had  told  him  to 
do  it.  It  was  the  only  time  I  ever  knew  him  to  be 
really  hazed,  and  it  was  impossible  to  punish  the  guil 
ty  ones,  because  the  boy  himself  refused  to  assist  in 
any  way  in  bringing  them  to  punishment. 

We  all  breathed  easier  when  the  two  of  them,  black 
and  bootblack,  departed  for  their  homes.  The  ques 
tion  of  colour  was  one  we  were  not  prepared  to  tackle, 
and  I  don't  see  that  we  are  any  better  prepared  for  it 
to-day  than  we  were  in  1872.  The  antagonism  of  the 
two  races  seems  greater  now  than  it  was  then. 


157 


CHAPTER  XV 

ON    BOARD   THE    SHENANDOAH 

Two  years  at  Annapolis  was  all  I  could  bear,  and 
I  looked  about  me  for  a  ship  and  sea  service.  The 
sloop  of  war  Shenandoah,  of  the  Mediterranean  fleet, 
was  short  a  navigator,  and  the  Department  was  good 
enough  to  order  me  to  her  in  that  capacity.  I  packed 
up  my  guns,  gave  away  my  dogs,  sold  my  catboat,  and 
with  my  wife  and  young  daughter  sailed  on  the  Cu- 
narder  Parthia,  Captain  Watson.  I  reported  for  duty 
at  Gibraltar  early  in  August. 

The  Shenandoah  was  a  sloop  of  war  built  during 
the  civil  war.  She  carried  a  good  battery,  could  steam 
about  six  knots  an  hour,  and  roll  forty  degrees  each 
way  twenty  times  a  minute  and  keep  it  up  for  hours 
at  a  time.  When  I  joined  her  she  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Clarke  H.  Wells,  and  my  old  classmate  Mc 
Gregor  was  executive  officer.  My  duties  as  navigator 
were  light,  and  the  prospects  of  a  pleasant  cruise  very 
promising. 

The  ship  was  somewhat  notorious  for  the  part 
she  had  played  in  the  revolution  then  being  fought 
out  in  Spain.  She  was  at  anchor  in  Cadiz,  when  one 
of  the  captured  Spanish  ironclads  came  in  and  an 
chored.  The  rebellious  crew  had  murdered  all  the 


English    Hospitality 

officers,  and  with  the  red  flag  flying,  and  a  new  crew 
of  soldiers  on  board,  entered  the  harbour  and  threat 
ened  all  sorts  of  things  under  penalty  of  bombard 
ment.  A  council  of  foreign  officers  was  called  on 
board  the  English  flagship,  and  it  was  unanimously 
decided  to  ask  the  American  captain  to  blow  her  up 
if  she  should  attempt  to  carry  out  her  threats.  Cap 
tain  Wells  accepted  this  task  promptly,  as  he  had  him 
self  decided  to  do  it  before  the  council  was  called.  He 
got  his  ship  under  way,  and,  anchoring  close  to  the 
ironclad,  informed  her  commanding  officer  that  as  he 
flew  no  recognised  flag  he  would  not  permit  him  either 
to  get  under  way  or  bombard  as  he  had  threatened, 
and  if  he  attempted  to  do  so  he  would  blow  him  out 
of  the  water.  Wells  then  opened  communication  with 
our  minister  in  Madrid,  and  actually  held  the  ship 
under  his  guns  until  she  was  turned  back  to  the  Span 
ish  navy. 

I  found  a  large  English  garrison  at  Gibraltar,  and 
a  most  hospitable  lot  they  were.  Their  mess  dinners 
were  very  enjoyable  affairs,  and  they  seemed  more 
than  anxious  always  to  have  our  officers  as  their 
guests.  I  attended  one  soon  after  I  arrived  which 
lasted  all  night.  I  reached  my  ship  at  4.20  in  the 
morning.  The  dinner  was  given  by  the  officers  of 
the  Thirty-first  Regiment,  whose  mess  outfit  and  plate 
were  as  fine  as  any  I  had  up  to  that  time  seen.  The 
quarters  were  comfortable  and  handsomely  furnished, 
and  the  service  fully  up  to  the  standard  of  the  English 
army.  The  officers  were  a  well-educated  and  cultured 
lot  of  hard-drinking  chaps,  who  seemed  ready  for  any 
sort  of  a  job  that  might  turn  up.  They  owned  a  fine 

159 


A  Sailors  Log 

pack  of  hounds,  and  rode  after  them  several  days  each 
week  over  the  rough  country  beyond  the  neutral  zone. 
I  was  cordially  invited  to  join  them,  but,  not  wishing 
to  come  to  my  end  in  that  way,  excused  myself  on 
the  ground  that  I  had  neither  red  coat  nor  spurs. 

Toward  the  end  of  August  the  Wachusetts  arrived, 
with  directions  for  Captain  Wells  to  run  up  to  Car 
tagena  to  see  what  was  going  on,  which  we  did, 
stopping  at  various  ports  on  the  way.  At  Cartagena 
we  found  quite  a  large  fleet  assembled.  The  Spanish 
rebels,  who  held  the  place  and  all  the  heavy  works  sur 
rounding  it,  had  seized  two  steamers,  merchant  ves 
sels,  for  some  imaginary  offence,  and  declared  their  in 
tention  of  confiscating  them.  Admiral  Yelverton,  of 
the  English  navy,  commanding  the  Mediterranean 
fleet,  had  notified  them  that  on  a  certain  day  he  meant 
to  take  the  two  steamers  to  sea  and  deliver  them 
to  their  rightful  owners,  and  that  they  must  not  be 
moved  in  the  meantime.  In  reply,  the  Spaniards  said 
that  if  Admiral  Yelverton  attempted  any  such  move, 
they  would  engage  him  with  their  forts  and  ironclad 
fleet.  We  were  lying  in  Escombrera  Bay,  where  we 
could  see  every  move  on  either  side.  The  forts  frowned 
down  on  us  from  a  great  height,  and  as  the  Spaniards 
shifted  gun  after  gun  to  bear  on  the  English  fleet,  and 
their  ironclads  prepared  for  action,  it  looked  as  if  we 
might  see  some  exciting  work  before  the  episode  was 
closed.  The  shores  near  us  were  bleak  and  forbid 
ding  in  the  extreme,  not  a  sign  of  vegetation  any 
where.  The  only  buildings  in  sight  were  a  few  silver- 
smelting  works. 

Monday  forenoon  we  tripped  our  anchor  and  stood 
160 


English   Sea   Power 

down  toward  the  entrance  of  the  harbour,  so  that  we 
might  be  in  better  position  to  witness  the  fight,  which 
many  expected  to  see.  I  was  not  one  of  them.  I 
knew  what  the  English  would  do,  and  I  believed  the 
Spaniards  would  back  down  when  the  time  came  for 
action.  The  English  fleet  was  cleared  for  action  and, 
as  we  steamed  past  them,  looked  very  grim  and  busi 
nesslike.  Promptly  at  noon,  the  hour  set  by  the  ad 
miral  for  the  movement,  the  fleet  got  under  way,  the 
ironclad  division  formed  around  the  two  merchant 
steamers,  their  anchors  were  broken  out,  and  they 
steamed  away  to  sea  with  the  English  flag  flying  on 
each  of  them.  As  they  were  escorted  out  by  the  iron 
clads,  and  gained  some  distance  from  the  port,  a  divi 
sion  of  English  gunboats  stood  slowly  in  toward  the 
forts,  turned  deliberately,  and  steamed  away  after 
the  fast-disappearing  admiral.  The  Spaniards  stood 
by  their  loaded  guns.  The  huge  ironclads  sizzled  with 
steam  and  smoked  viciously  from  their  stacks,  but 
not  a  shot  was  fired.  Admiral  Yelverton  had  done 
his  work  beautifully. 

The  Spaniards  were  wise  enough  to  see  that  it  was 
not  well  to  monkey  with  such  a  buzz  saw  as  the  sea 
power  of  England.  This  action  of  the  admiral  was 
much  questioned  at  the  time,  but  was  finally  approved 
by  his  Government,  which  gave  it  the  stamp  of  right. 
He  claimed,  and  the  Spanish  rebels  admitted,  that  the 
two  vessels,  seized  from  loyal  Spanish  subjects,  were 
to  be  fitted  out  as  privateers  to  prey  on  Spanish  com 
merce.  He  further  claimed,  which  was  a  fact  beyond 
question,  that  they  were  to  sail  under  a  flag  not  recog 
nised  by  any  nation,  hence  they  would  be  pirates,  and 

161 


A  Sailor's  Log 

for  this  reason  he  seized  them.  There  seems  to  have 
been  good  ground  for  his  action. 

From  Cartagena  we  cruised  along  the  Spanish 
coast  as  far  as  Barcelona,  where  we  found  the  flagship 
Wabash,  flying  the  flag  of  Admiral  Case,  commanding 
the  squadron.  Personally  we  were  glad  to  see  the  dear 
old  gentleman,  but  officially  we  would  rather  he  had 
been  somewhere  else.  Whenever  a  number  of  ships 
get  together  there  is  always  a  lot  of  work  to  be  done 
by  surveys,  and  the  navigators  seem  to  be  traditionally 
the  men  to  do  it.  We  surveyed  old  stoves,  carpets, 
curtains,  pans  and  pots,  until  I  felt  myself  quite  com 
petent  to  run  a  shop  in  Chatham  Street.  As  soon  as 
we  arrived  we  received  notice  that  the  admiral  would 
inspect  us  in  a  few  days,  and  that  meant  incessant 
work  until  the  inspection  was  completed.  We  had  in 
our  crew  representatives  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe, 
and  some  from  Asia.  It  was  difficult  to  make  one's 
self  understood  without  the  use  of  at  least  two  or 
three  languages.  This  was  caused  by  keeping  the  ship 
on  the  station  long  after  the  time  of  enlistment  of  her 
proper  crew  had  expired,  and  was  a  most  unhappy 
condition.  We  were  moored  in  Barcelona  Harbour 
between  two  ironclads,  English  on  one  side  of  us  and 
Austrian  on  the  other,  and  we  could  see  that  our  extra 
work  was  interesting  them.  They  watched  us  all  the 
time,  and  were  evidently  very  curious  to  see  what  the 
Yankes  were  up  to. 

Admiral  Case  was  a  great  believer  in  torpedoes, 
and  decided  that  we  should  fire  one  on  our  inspec 
tion.  The  spar  torpedo — "  a  bag  of  powder  on  the 
end  of  a  pole'' — was  the  kind  of  infernal  machine 

162 


Old-fashioned   Torpedoes 

then  in  favour;  but  so  far  none  had  been  exploded 
in  the  Mediterranean,  and  we  were  to  have  the  dis 
tinction  of  being  the  first  to  do  it.  We  had  no  tor 
pedoes  to  work  with — only  an  old-fashioned  firing 
machine  and  a  small  quantity  of  insulated  wire;  the 
rest  I  had  to  make  as  best  I  might.  After  messing 
myself  up  with  pitch  and  soluble  rubber  for  three  days, 
I  reported  that  my  torpedo  was  ready,  and  the  inspec 
tion  began.  Our  work  was  fairly  well  done,  consider 
ing  the  crew  we  had,  but  our  condition  in  the  mind 
of  the  admiral  and  his  official  report  depended  largely 
on  the  success  of  the  torpedo.  At  the  proper  moment 
I  received  the  order,  "  Fire  the  starboard  torpedo!" 
as  if  we  had  a  dozen  on  tap.  This  was  to  impress  the 
foreigners,  who  were  watching  us  intently.  Admiral 
Case  had  a  fine  sense  of  humour. 

My  pitched-over  water-breaker,  containing  one 
hundred  pounds  of  old  black  powder,  was  launched  on 
the  end  of  a  long  spar  and  sunk  to  a  depth  of  about 
ten  feet.  Then  I  touched  the  firing  key,  and  there  was 
a  real  commotion  for  all  hands.  The  explosion  which 
followed  instantly  shook  the  ship — in  fact,  all  the 
ships  in  the  harbour — quite  thoroughly,  threw  a  fine 
column  of  water  two  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  and  cov 
ered  the  decks  of  the  Austrian,  who  was  to  leeward 
of  us,  with  very  filthy  mud  blown  up  from  the  bottom. 
The  admiral  considered  it  all  very  successful,  compli 
mented  me  on  my  work,  and  ordered  that  each  ship  of 
the  squadron  should  prepare  and  fire  one  torpedo  each 
month.  It  is  hard  to  believe,  in  these  days  of  perfect- 
running  Whiteheads  and  Howells,  that  I  am  relating 
what  actually  occurred  on  a  United  States  vessel  in 

163 


A  Sailor's  Log 

1873.     Other  nations  were  no  better  off  than  we,  if 
as  well. 

Before  leaving  Barcelona  I  determined  to  witness 
some  of  the  shows  which  amused  the  people,  and  as 
Sunday  was  the  great  day  for  that  sort  of  thing,  se 
lected  it  for  my  outing.  I  hope  I  may  never  spend 
another  such  Sunday.  First  I  visited  a  combination 
fight — chickens  first,  then  "  bull  baiting,"  and  finally 
a  dog  fight,  each  more  brutal  than  the  other.  The 
bull  baiting  consisted  in  tying  a  bull  to  a  post  in  the 
centre  of  an  inclosure  by  means  of  a  ring  fastened 
through  his  nose,  and  then  turning  loose  on  him  a 
number  of  savage  bulldogs.  The  poor  beast  was  un 
able  to  defend  himself,  and  soon  succumbed  to  his  tor 
mentors.  A  lean-looking  old  donkey  was  then  intro 
duced,  and  the  dogs  let  loose  on  him.  He  evidently 
had  more  sense  than  the  bull,  for  he  succeeded  in 
killing  one  dog  with  his  teeth  and  two  with  his  heels 
before  they  finally  pulled  him  down.  I  regretted  very 
much  that  it  was  not  men  instead  of  dogs  he  had  de 
molished.  Then  came  the  dog  fight,  which  was  a  very 
noisy  affair,  not  on  account  of  the  dogs  that  were 
fighting,  but  by  reason  of  the  curs  surrounding  the 
pit.  Almost  every  cur  had  a  smaller  cur  under  his  arm 
— smaller,  of  course,  and  much  less  brutal  and  savage 
than  his  master.  I  fittingly  wound  up  the  day  by  visit 
ing  a  large  gambling  hell,  where  I  lost  a  few  pesetas, 
and  was  chased  out  on  the  roof  by  a  gang  of  thugs, 
who  seemed  anxious  to  put  a  knife  or  two  in  me. 
When  I  reached  the  ship  I  felt  that  I  had  learned 
something  of  Spanish  customs,  and  was  impressed  with 
the  necessity  of  a  bath,  both  moral  and  physical. 

164 


Hunting   in    Morocco 

From  Barcelona  we  hurried  down  to  Alicante  to 
see  the  bombardment  of  that  place  by  the  rebel  ships. 
We  were  so  slow,  however,  that  we  arrived  the  day 
after  the  fight.  There  were  no  forts  to  be  seen  when 
at  daylight  the  bombardment  began;  but  the  people 
on  shore  had  mounted  some  heavy  guns  in  a  masked 
battery  and  served  them  so  well  that  the  fleet  was 
driven  off  before  sundown,  with  quite  a  list  of  killed 
and  wounded.  The  town  suffered  somewhat,  but  no 
lives  were  lost.  The  bombardment  was  caused  by  the 
refusal  of  the  authorities  to  pay  the  large  sum  of 
money  demanded  of  them  by  the  rebel  government. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Tangiers,  Morocco,  the  Ameri 
can  consul,  Colonel  Mathews,  arranged  a  hunting 
party  for  Captain  Wells,  and  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  be  asked  to  join  it.  A  tribe  of  Moors  furnished 
the  attendants,  three  camels  carried  our  tents  and  mess 
outfit,  and  we,  four  of  us,  followed  on  horseback.  The 
attendants,  cooks,  hunters,  etc.,  numbered  about  fifty. 
When  we  had  gone  some  seventy-five  miles  into  the 
country  we  struck  the  hunting  ground  and  the  fun 
began.  I  had  determined  to  shoot  from  my  horse,  as 
the  cover  was  very  thick  and  the  weather  hot  enough 
to  make  the  work  of  getting  through  it  hard  for 
a  lame  man.  Colonel  Mathews  assured  me  that  the 
horse,  a  thoroughbred  Arabian,  would  probably  break 
my  neck  if  I  fired  from  his  back,  but  I  had  my  own 
views  about  that.  As  we  were  leaving  our  camp  in 
the  morning  for  our  first  day's  shoot,  two  partridges 
got  up  under  my  horse's  nose  and  I  downed  them 
both,  but  a  second  later  found  myself  sitting  on  the 
ground.  When  I  fired  I  took  the  precaution  to  throw 
12  165 


A  Sailor's  Log 

both  my  feet  out  of  the  stirrups.  The  horse  squatted 
down  and  jumped  from  under  me  as  if  he  had  been 
greased,  and  then  ran  away.  He  was  finally  caught, 
and,  after  half  an  hour's  training,  stood  fire  like  a 
veteran.  I  shot  from  his  back  every  day  while  we 
were  out,  and  I  am  sure  he  learned  to  enjoy  it.  I 
certainly  did.  We  were  shooting  the  African  red- 
legged  partridge,  and  they  were  in  great  numbers. 
The  Moors  were  spread  out  like  a  picket  line,  with  the 
gunners  stationed  along  at  regular  intervals.  As  the 
line  advanced,  the  flight  of  birds  was  almost  constant 
and  the  banging  of  the  guns  incessant,  the  Moors  act 
ing  as  beaters  and  retrievers. 

Each  morning  the  camp  was  sent  ahead  to  a  spot 
selected  by  the  colonel,  and  when  we  arrived,  gen 
erally  early  in  the  afternoon,  we  found  everything 
ship-shape  and  our  lunch  ready.  Our  trip  was  made 
during  the  Ramadan,  or  lenten  season,  and  the  Moors 
neither  ate  nor  drank  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  but  dur 
ing  the  night  they  made  merry.  Not  so  with  us,  how 
ever;  we  ate,  drank,  and  made  merry  during  the  day, 
and  slept  during  the  night  when  the  fleas  would  allow 
us  to.  These  little  pests  were  in  the  sand,  and  in  such 
numbers  and  so  active  that  we  all  bore  the  marks  of 
them  for  weeks  afterward.  Colonel  Mathews  was  a 
real  cordon  bleu,  and  the  stews  he  made  out  of  English 
hare,  of  which  we  killed  a  number,  and  mutton,  were 
beyond  criticism.  We  were  all  sorry  when  our  week 
was  up  and  we  had  to  return  to  work. 

The  news  of  the  seizure  of  the  Virginius  came  about 
this  time,  and  we  received  hurry  orders  to  proceed  to 
Nice,  our  storehouse  and  headquarters.  We  were  off 

166 


A   Heavy   Storm 

at  once  and  had  a  fine  run  until  we  passed  Port 
Mahon,  when  a  long  swell  from  the  Gulf  of  Lyons 
and  a  rapidly  falling  barometer  indicated  trouble 
ahead.  The  captain  had  his  family  on  board,  and  one 
of  his  daughters  was  to  be  married  to  an  officer  on  our 
arrival  at  Nice;  and  as  we  would  probably  be  hurried 
away  as  soon  as  we  could  take  in  stores,  without  much 
consideration  for  the  young  couple,  it  was  desirable 
that  we  should  make  as  much  speed  as  possible.  The 
storm  warnings  were  not  heeded,  and  at  sundown  we 
were  on  our  course  under  all  sails  and  steam.  Half  an 
hour  afterward  I  was  called  on  deck  to  shorten  sail, 
but  before  I  could  do  anything  half  the  canvas  was 
blown  away.  We  finally  got  her  under  storm  sails,  but 
she  rolled  until  the  side  seams  were  so  opened  that  the 
water  squirted  into  the  officers'  bunks  in  the  ward 
room.  I  was  on  deck,  in  my  double  capacity  of  execu 
tive  officer  and  navigator,  during  the  entire  night, 
and  I  have  rarely  seen  a  worse  one.  The  wind  blew 
with  hurricane  force,  and  our  crew  of  "  dagos  "  and 
"  rock  scorpions  "  were  of  little  use.  Many  of  the 
officers  had  to  go  aloft  to  help  furl  the  few  sails  we 
had  managed  to  save,  most  of  which  afterward  blew 
out  of  the  furling  lines  and  were  lost.  Our  engines 
were  of  little  use  in  the  heavy  sea,  barely  giving  us 
steerage  way,  and  as  a  whole  the  prospect  was  not 
pleasing.  During  the  mid  watch,  about  half  past  one, 
I  was  thrown  on  deck  by  the  heavy  lurching  of  the 
ship,  and  had  the  skin  taken  off  my  left  knee  in  a  spot 
just  the  size  of  the  knee  cap.  When  I  had  a  chance 
the  doctor  took  a  look  at  it  in  the  wardroom,  and 
before  I  knew  what  he  was  about  he  clapped  a  large 


A  Sailor's  Log 

piece  of  thick  adhesive  plaster,  which  he  had  melted 
over  a  candle,  on  the  raw  flesh.  It  fairly  fried  me,  and 
caused  me  intense  pain  for  several  days,  as  well  as  the 
use  of  very  strong  language. 

At  daylight  the  gale  blew  out,  and  the  ship  was 
really  a  picture  to  see.  Bits  of  canvas  remained  on 
the  yards  where  the  sails  had  been,  and  other  bits  had 
whipped  themselves  about  the  rigging,  and  all  were 
frayed  out,  until  the  Shenandoah  looked  as  if  she  had 
been  picking  cotton.  We  arrived  at  Nice,  however, 
after  a  time,  the  parson  tied  the  knot  for  the  captain's 
daughter,  amid  most  beautiful  surroundings  and  dis 
tinguished  people,  and  in  a  few  days  we  reported  ready 
for  sea  again.  War  rumours  were  in  the  air,  and  when 
we  said  good-bye  to  our  families  none  of  us  could  even 
guess  when  we  might  see  them  again.  It  was  a  sad 
time  for  us  all,  but  the  women  were  so  plucky  and 
behaved  so  well  that  we  were  cheered  by  their  example. 
No  weeping  and  wailing  for  them — only  pale  faces  and 
set  teeth  to  show  what  they  were  suffering.  How 
proud  we  were  of  our  American  wives! 

The  admiral  sent  us  to  sea  as  fast  as  we  were 
coaled  and  ready  to  rendezvous  at  Gibraltar,  where  we 
arrived  in  five  days,  which  was  an  excellent  run  for 
us.  The  weather  tried  to  make  up  to  us  for  its 
hard  treatment  a  few  days  before,  and  the  wind 
blew  steadily  in  our  favour  all  the  way.  Before 
leaving  Nice  our  cabin  party  was  increased  by  the  ar 
rival  on  board  of  the  paymaster's  wife,  who  came  to 
look  after  her  sick  husband.  I  shall  have  more  to  say 
about  him  later  on.  When  we  reached  Gibraltar  war 
with  Spain  seemed  probable,  and  orders  were  received 

1 68 


Navigator   and   Milkman 

to  proceed  immediately  to  Key  West.  These  were 
somewhat  accentuated  when  the  admiral  wired  to 
know  if  there  were  any  further  orders,  by  the  answer 
from  the  Department  at  Washington:  "  Obey  your 
orders  at  once!  "  After  this  the  ships  got  to  sea  rather 
promptly,  we  being  the  last  to  start.  We  ran  down  to 
Madeira,  where  we  remained  a  week,  and  then  headed 
for  St.  Thomas,  in  the  West  Indies. 

The  paymaster  was  very  ill  at  this  time  and  grow 
ing  worse.  Many  of  us,  who  knew  him  well,  thought 
the  best  thing  he  could  do  would  be  to  die — the  best 
for  all  hands,  particularly  the  wife.  The  captain,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  doctor,  purchased  a  goat,  in  order 
that  the  patient  might  have  the  advantage  of  fresh 
milk  on  the  passage  over.  We  left  Madeira  early  in 
the  morning,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  that  night  the 
orderly  turned  me  out,  saying  the  captain  wanted 
to  see  me  on  deck.  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  he 
could  possibly  want  with  me  at  that  hour,  but,  sup 
posing  it  to  be  something  of  importance,  hurried  into 
my  clothes  and  reported  to  him  on  the  quarter-deck, 
when  the  following  conversation  took  place:  "  Evans, 
you  know  the  paymaster  is  very  ill,  and  may  die?  " 
"Yes,  sir;  I  hope  he  will."  "Well,  he  surely  will 
unless  he  can  have  some  goat's  milk.  I  have  sent  for 
you  to  ask  if  you  won't  milk  the  goat  for  us.  I  know 
you  can  do  it.  So  far  we  have  not  succeeded  in  get 
ting  a  drop  of  milk  from  the  beast,  though  she  seems 
to  have  plenty."  To  this  proposition  I  was  naturally 
disposed  to  make  a  sharp  reply,  but,  having  a  great  re 
gard  for  the  captain,  I  only  said,  "  I  was  not  aware,  sir, 
that  it  was  any  part  of  the  navigator's  duty  to  milk 

169 


A  Sailor's  Log 

a  goat."  "  Of  course  not,  Evans,  of  course  not;  I 
ask  you  to  do  it  as  a  matter  of  humanity,  and  to 
oblige  me." 

That,  of  course,  settled  the  question,  and  down 
I  went  to  tackle  Mrs.  Goat.  I  found  her  in  a  very 
excited  state  of  mind  apparently,  having  butted  out 
the  captain's  steward  and  a  marine  orderly  who  had 
attempted  to  relieve  her  of  her  milk.  One  of  them 
had  tried  to  hold  her  while  the  other  went  for  the 
milk.  I  remembered  how  the  darkies  in  my  young 
days  had  treated  a  cow  under  the  same  conditions,  and 
procuring  some  warm  water  and  exercising  a  little 
patience  in  the  premises,  soon  relieved  her  of  the  milk, 
which  was  evidently  giving  her  pain.  This  I  sent  to  the 
cabin,  and  went  back  to  my  sleep.  At  breakfast  in  the 
morning  the  whole  mess  knew  what  had  taken  place, 
and  I  was,  of  course,  the  subject  of  no  end  of  chaff. 

In  the  afternoon  I  was  again  sent  for  and  re 
quested  to  milk  the  goat.  I  declared  I  would  "be 
jiggered  "  if  I  would;  but  the  captain  again  persuaded 
me  to  do  it.  This  time  I  found  the  goat  standing 
on  her  hind  legs,  snorting  at  the  steward,  who  was 
being  unmercifully  jeered  at  by  the  crew  because  he 
failed  in  all  his  attempt  to  produce  milk.  It  now 
looked  as  if  I  would  have  to  go  on  milking  the  blessed 
goat  all  the  way  to  St.  Thomas.  However,  I  found 
a  young  marine  who  seemed  willing  to  assume  my 
duties,  if  the  goat  would  let  him,  and  I  succeeded 
finally  in  teaching  him  the  trick  of  milking  her  suc 
cessfully.  This  was  my  first  and  only  experience  with 
goats.  The  paymaster  lived  to  reach  the  United 
States,  where  he  died  a  few  months  later. 

170 


An    Inefficient   Fleet 

On  arriving  at  St.  Thomas,  we  learned  that  the 
Virginius  trouble  was  in  a  fair  way  of  being  settled 
without  war.  We  were,  however,  to  hurry  on  to  Key 
West,  where  we  had  a  large  fleet  assembled  ready  to 
fight  in  case  diplomacy  failed.  The  Ticonderoga  was 
in  port,  just  arrived  from  Brazil,  and  as  soon  as  coaled 
we  sailed  in  company  and  made  a  good  run  to  the 
coast  of  Florida.  The  force  assembled  at  Key  West 
was  the  best,  and  indeed  about  all,  we  had.  We  had 
no  stores  or  storehouses  to  speak  of  at  this  so-called 
base  of  supplies,  and  if  it  had  not  been  so  serious  it 
would  have  been  laughable  to  see  our  condition.  We 
remained  there  several  weeks,  making  faces  at  the 
Spaniards  ninety  miles  away  at  Havana,  while  two 
modern  vessels  of  war  would  have  done  us  up  in  thirty 
minutes.  As  there  was  to  be  no  war,  the  authorities 
in  Washington  allowed  the  foreign  attaches  to  come 
and  inspect  us,  and  report  our  warlike  condition  to 
their  different  Governments.  We  were  dreadfully  mor 
tified  over  it  all,  but  we  were  not  to  blame;  we  did 
the  best  we  could  with  what  Congress  gave  us. 

We  had  several  weeks  of  fleet  manoeuvres,  which 
were  excellent  both  for  officers  and  men,  and  then,  as  a 
grand  wind  up,  a  landing  drill,  which  for  some  reason 
has  become  the  favourite  in  our  service  over  all  legiti 
mate  work.  On  this  occasion  we  landed  about  three 
thousand  men,  and,  after  spending  an  afternoon  in  a  tem 
perature  running  as  high  as  130°  in  the  sun,  returned 
to  our  ships  and  nursed  our  blisters  for  days  afterward. 
I  had  command  of  the  artillery,  eighteen  guns,  which 
we  hauled  about  seven  or  eight  miles  in  the  hot  sun 
and  through  cactus  so  thick  in  some  places  that  we 

171 


A  Sailor's  Log 

had  to  blow  it  away  with  the  guns  in  order  to  get 
them  through.  I  found  one  of  the  men,  an  old  quar 
termaster,  with  his  shoes  hanging  around  his  neck. 
He  said  he  wasn't  going  to  ruin  his  shoes  by  wearing 
them  over  that  cactus.  Finally,  we  flanked  the  posi 
tion  of  the  imaginary  enemy,  and,  with  the  expendi 
ture  of  much  old,  condemned  powder,  carried  it  with 
a  rush.  Then  we  had  a  brigade  dress  parade,  which 
would  have  impressed  the  Spanish  regulars  if  they  had 
seen  it.  This  done,  we  went  on  board  our  ships,  and 
the  doctors  pulled  the  cactus  thorns  out  of  us. 

The  time  spent  on  this  drill  and  the  money  it  cost 
were  not  entirely  wasted.  We  learned  many  things 
besides  how  to  live  on  turtle  steaks.  We  of  the  navy 
knew  long  before  this  that  our  so-called  naval  force 
was  a  sham,  and  that  the  country  was  absolutely  with 
out  sea  power;  but  if  there  were  any  doubters  among 
us  they  were  convinced.  The  country  at  large  learned 
something  that  shocked  the  people,  and  they  began  to 
take  more  interest  in  our  floating  defences.  We  tried 
all  the  kinds  of  torpedoes  then  known  to  us,  and  de 
cided  that  they  were  good  only  for  newspaper  stories, 
or  to  scare  timid  people  with.  The  much-talked-of 
Harvey  towing-torpedo  was  towed  about  for  days  in 
an  effort  to  make  it  strike  a  ship,  but  it  would  not 
do  it.  Once  it  did  seem  to  wake  up,  and  jumped  over 
an  innocent  tugboat,  fortunately  without  killing  any 
one.  Then  we  ran  at  a  large  raft,  made  of  many  hun 
dreds  of  oil  barrels  securely  lashed  together,  and  ex 
ploded  spar  torpedoes  under  it,  producing  very  beau 
tiful  fountains,  and  knocking  the  barrels  about  con 
siderably.  This  was  generally  done  at  very  low  speed, 

172 


Gun   and   Torpedo    Practice 

because  most  of  us  could  not  steam  over  seven  knots; 
some  ships  undertook  the  exercise  at  speeds  as  high 
as  ten  knots,  but  they  always  carried  away  something 
when  the  spar  was  lowered  into  the  water,  and  before 
they  reached  the  target  the  torpedo  had  swung  along 
side,  where  it  could  not  be  exploded  without  disastrous 
result.  Our  gun  practice  was  good,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  officers  could  handle  their  ships  in  a  seaman- 
like  way;  but  the  general  conclusion  was  that  torpe 
does  in  their  then  state  of  development  were  a  very 
much  overrated  weapon.  Of  course,  there  were  en 
thusiasts  who  still  believed  in  them.  You  can  find 
those  who  believe  that  "  the  earth  stands  still  and  the 
sun  do  move! " 


173 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A    CRUISE   TO    AFRICA 

WAR  with  Spain  being  once  more  postponed,  or 
ders  were  issued  for  the  fleet  to  disband,  and  for  the 
various  vessels  to  proceed  to  their  new  stations.  The 
Shenandoah  was  ordered  North  to  go  out  of  commis 
sion  for  repairs,  but  as  my  sea  service  in  her  had  been 
very  short,  I  was  transferred  to  the  Congress  as  execu 
tive  officer.  I  was  considered  very  young  for  the  job, 
but  I  was  not  responsible  either  for  my  age  or  my 
orders,  and  neither  gave  me  any  concern.  W.  T. 
Sampson,  who  afterward  rendered  the  country  such 
conspicuous  service  in  the  war  with  Spain,  had  been 
her  executive,  and  in  relieving  him  I,  of  course,  found 
a  well-organized  ship.  She  had  a  new  crew,  composed 
of  merchant  sailors  principally,  who  had  enlisted  at 
Southern  ports  for  the  threatened  Cuban  war,  and  they 
were  about  as  tough  a  lot  of  Christians  as  I  ever  ran 
up  against;  but  time  and  discipline  did  wonders  for 
them.  I  was  again  very  fortunate  in  my  captain,  as 
my  old  Delaware  captain,  Earl  English,  was  ordered 
to  command  us.  I  reported  on  board  early  in  April, 
and  a  few  days  later  Captain  English  came  with  orders 
to  hurry  things  up  as  much  as  possible  and  get  off  to 
the  Mediterranean  without  delay.  We  did  not  allow 

174 


Madeira   and   Santa   Cruz 

any  barnacles  to  grow  on  us  after  this,  for  we  knew 
how  many  ships  would  be  pleased  to  take  our  place. 
A  week  or  ten  days  was  all  we  required,  after  the  order 
came,  to  report  ready,  and  immediately  afterward  we 
went  to  sea. 

Our  run  to  Madeira  was  made  in  good  time,  con 
sidering  the  fact  that  we  did  it  all  under  sail.  I  asked 
the  captain  to  allow  me  to  drill  the  men  an  hour  or 
so  each  day  with  sails  and  spars,  as  I  considered 
that  the  best  and  quickest  way  to  get  them  in  shape. 
He  was  good  enough  to  approve  the  plan  I  had 
suggested,  and  every  afternoon  we  worked  ship  for 
an  hour,  furling  and  shifting  sails,  sending  up  and 
down  yards,  and  doing  the  many  small  things  which, 
if  persevered  in,  tend  to  make  a  seaman.  Both  officers 
and  men  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  work,  and  the  im 
provement  in  them  was  most  marked.  Upon  our  ar 
rival  at  Madeira  we  received  orders  to  proceed  to  the 
coast  of  Africa,  where  some  of  the  natives  near  Mon 
rovia  had  threatened  to  barbecue  our  wards,  the  col 
oured  American  colonists.  As  soon  as  necessary  re 
pairs  could  be  made  we  left  Madeira  for  the  south. 

We  found  the  trades  good  and  strong,  and  running 
off  before  them  under  all  sail  was  the  finest  going  to 
sea  one  could  have.  We  enjoyed  the  perfect  semi- 
tropical  weather  to  the  full,  and  arrived  at  Santa  Cruz 
May  13,  1874.  The  historical  old  town  was  well  worth 
a  visit,  and  we  all  regretted  that  the  service  on  which 
we  were  bound  allowed  us  to  remain  only  three  days, 
during  which  time  we  refilled  our  coal  bunkers  and 
made  such  excursions  on  shore  as  were  possible.  I 
organized  a  party  of  eleven  to  visit  the  village  of 

175 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Orotava,  which  is  situated  in  a  valley  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  TenerifTe,  celebrated  as  one  of  the  most  beauti 
ful  peaks  in  the  world.  The  question  of  how  to  get 
there  was  solved  when  I  had  succeeded  in  chartering 
three  shabby  old  hacks  and  six  so-called  horses  to  pull 
them.  We  were  soon  started,  and,  working  labori 
ously  up  the  steady  mountain  grade,  arrived  after  a 
while  at  an  elevation  of  three  thousand  feet,  where  we 
met  the  rain  in  tropical  torrents.  A  convenient  hole 
in  the  roof  of  my  hack  let  the  water  through,  and  I 
soon  had  a  small  river  running  down  my  back  and  into 
my  shoes,  which  detracted  from  the  pleasure  of  the 
trip,  but  did  not  destroy  it.  The  rain  soon  ceased, 
and  there  below  us  lay  the  city  and  the  harbour  com 
pletely  inclosed  in  a  perfect  rainbow,  which  touched 
the  water  north  and  south.  It  was  the  most  beautiful 
.picture  I  have  ever  seen,  painted  by  the  Master  Hand 
that  makes  no  mistakes. 

At  the  little  village  of  Laguna  we  halted,  wet  and 
tired,  to  get  what  lunch  we  could  from  the  scowling 
gang  of  Spaniards  who  surrounded  us.  The  Virginius 
affair  had  not  made  us  popular  with  these  cutthroats. 
The  tavern  in  which  we  found  ourselves  was  foully 
dirty,  and  the  food  was  in  keeping;  but  we  managed 
to  make  some  sort  of  a  meal  on  salad  and  eggs,  washed 
down  with  very  warm  Bass  ale.  After  leaving  this  vil 
lage  we  found  ourselves  on  a  road  winding  around  the 
side  of  the  mountain,  with  the  sea  nearly  four  thousand 
feet  below  us.  The  scene  was  wild  and  beautiful  as  the 
sun  broke  through  the  clouds  which  enveloped  us. 
Nature  did  all  she  could  to  make  the  panorama  perfect, 
but  the  shadow  of  Spain  was  over  everything. 

176 


Visit   to   Orotava 

Darkness  came  as  we  turned  into  the  valley  and 
began  the  sharp  descent  to  the  village,  and  we  saw  noth 
ing  more  until  we  arrived  at  the  one  miserable  hotel 
Orotava  at  that  time  contained.  After  much  wrangling 
and  the  use  of  many  bad  words  we  succeeded  in  getting 
enough  cot  beds  for  the  party,  but  it  was  hours  before 
we  were  served  with  dinner,  and  a  very  poor  one  it  was 
when  it  finally  came.  When  we  retired  for  the  night  I 
discovered  that  one  of  the  sheets  for  my  bed  was  the 
tablecloth  off  which  I  had  dined!  This,  however,  was 
soon  forgotten  under  the  attack  of  the  fleas,  which 
literally  swarmed  everywhere,  and  sleep  was  out  of  the 
question.  I  thought  I  had  seen  fleas  in  Morocco  and  in 
Japan,  but  I  was  mistaken — it  was  left  for  Orotava 
to  show  me  the  real  thing.  We  gave  up  the  beds  as 
a  bad  job,  and  wandered  about  until  daylight,  when 
we  ascended  to  the  roof  of  the  hotel  to  watch  the  sun 
rise  and  catch  the  shadows  on  the  beautiful  Peak  of 
Teneriffe.  It  was  a  clear  morning,  fortunately,  and 
as  the  sun  rose  we  were  well  repaid  for  all  the  incon 
venience  we  had  suffered. 

After  breakfast  we  strolled  for  two  hours  about  the 
village,  admiring  the  splendid  flowers,  which  in  their 
perfection  and  abundance  reminded  me  of  those  about 
Montevideo.  The  roses  were  the  finest  I  had  ever  seen, 
and  I  can  recall  after  all  these  years  the  appearance  of  a 
stone  wall  which  had  a  cloth  of  gold  climbing  over  it 
bearing  more  than  five  hundred  splendid  flowers.  After 
a  look  at  the  great  dragon  tree,  which  had  fallen  two 
years  before,  having  stood  the  storms  of  many  hundreds 
if  not  thousands  of  years,  we  started  on  our  return  trip. 
At  a  point  in  the  road  where  the  view  was  the  most  per- 

177 


A  Sailor's  Log 

feet  we  halted  and  looked  back  over  the  beautiful  val 
ley.  It  was  at  this  spot  that  Humboldt  was  said  to 
have  dropped  on  his  knees  and  exclaimed,  "  I  have 
found  the  Garden  of  Eden!  "  The  view,  though  very 
beautiful,  had  changed  much  since  his  time.  Then  the 
entire  country  was  one  vast  vineyard — grapevines 
everywhere;  but  now  only  cactus  plants  could  be  seen, 
and  they  certainly  could  not  be  called  beautiful.  The 
people  had  found  that  cochineal  paid  better  than  wine, 
and  did  not  require  anything  like  so  much  labour,  so 
they  planted  cactus  and  collected  and  roasted  the  small 
red  insects.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  aniline  dyes  had 
entirely  superseded  cochineal  for  colouring  purposes, 
and  the  cactus  plants  had  consequently  been  left  with 
out  care  to  grow  as  they  pleased. 

Our  run  down  to  Porto  Grande  was  as  pleasant 
as  any  I  ever  made,  the  weather  being  perfect.  Our 
drills  were  kept  up  constantly,  and  the  men  showed 
the  good  stuff  that  was  in  them.  The  captain  was, 
unfortunately,  very  sick  all  the  way,  and  my  work  in 
consequence  much  harder.  There  were  executives  in 
the  service  at  that  day,  and  I  suppose  they  are  not 
all  dead  yet,  who  wanted  to  be  captain  as  well  as 
executive.  I  was  not  one  of  them.  I  always  wished 
the  captain  to  back  me  up  in  what  I  did  as  executive, 
and  I  always  did  what  I  could  to  make  his  position 
strong  and  stiff,  for  I  sometimes  required  a  pretty  stiff 
hand  to  back  up  some  of  the  things  I  had  to  do  to 
make  the  ship  what  I  knew  she  ought  to  be.  "  To 
have  the  captain  under  your  thumb  "  was  one  of  the 
fool  notions  that  never  entered  my  head. 

Porto  Grande  was  the  headquarters  of  our  African 


A   Desecrated   Cemetery 

squadron,  when  we  had  one,  and  here  many  officers  and 
men  were  buried.  We  were  much  disgusted  to  find  that 
the  authorities  had  seen  fit  to  order  our  cemetery  sold, 
after  having  levelled  the  graves  and  destroyed  the 
tombstones  and  monuments.  One  of  our  vessels  had 
been  sent  to  look  into  the  matter,  and,  after  she  had 
made  a  proper  row,  the  governor  promised  to  do  what 
he  could  to  protect  the  graves.  We  found  that  he  had 
stuck  up  some  small  posts  to  mark  the  boundaries, 
where  before  we  had  a  stone  wall  capped  by  a  proper 
iron  fence;  and,  not  considering  this  much  of  an  effort, 
we  again  made  a  row,  and  he  again  promised  to  do 
something;  but  I  am  sure  he  never  intended  to  do 
more  than  get  rid  of  us.  I  was  anxious  to  teach  him 
a  lesson,  but  our  orders  would  not  permit  it.  I  found 
that  one  of  the  tombstones  from  the  grave  of  an 
American  officer  was  being  used  for  a  chopping-block 
in  a  private  house.  Without  much  ceremony  I  had 
this  removed  to  its  proper  place,  and  reported  the 
whole  matter  to  the  Navy  Department.  We  arrived 
at  this  place  on  May  23d,  and,  having  replenished  our 
coal  supply,  again  started  south,  bound  for  Harpers, 
the  American  settlement  on  Cape  Palmas,  intending  to 
call  in  at  Freetown,  Monrovia. 

On  the  morning  of  June  5th  we  ran  in  and  an 
chored  off  the  latter  place,  where  I  had  my  first  ex 
perience  with  the  native  Africans.  Their  antics  were 
only  exceeded  by  those  of  our  coloured  countrymen 
who  had  sought  homes  here  in  their  native  land,  or 
rather  the  land  of  their  ancestors.  As  soon  as  we 
anchored,  our  minister  to  Liberia  came  on  board,  and 
was  received  with  all  the  honours  due  his  high  posi- 

179 


A  Sailor's  Log 

tion.  I  found  him  a  well-educated  man,  much  given  to 
self-admiration  and  the  use  of  high-sounding  words. 
He  was  very  good-looking,  of  a  commanding  figure, 
very  black,  and  named  J.  Milton  Turner.  He  wore 
evening  dress  and  a  very  becoming  high  hat.  The  two 
Harvard  graduates,  coloured,  who  accompanied  him 
were  apparelled  in  the  same  way.  After  a  short  visit, 
during  which  he  talked  incessantly  of  the  call  I  was 
to  make  on  the  President  of  the  republic,  he  took  his 
departure,  and  was  saluted  with  seventeen  guns.  At 
the  first  gun  he  stood  up  in  the  stern  of  his  small 
boat,  held  his  tall  hat  aloft  in  one  hand,  and  the  Ameri 
can  flag  in  the  other.  His  efforts  to  balance  himself 
as  the  boat  pitched  and  tossed  about  made  of  him  a 
striking  figure. 

In  an  hour  or  so  Mr.  Turner  was  back  on  board, 
still  in  dress  clothes,  with  a  message  from  the  Presi 
dent  that  he  would  be  glad  to  receive  me  that  after 
noon  at  a  stated  hour.  We  had  taken  on  board  at  Porto 
Grande  twelve  Kroomen,  trained  surfmen,  for  service 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  save  our  men  from  the  effects 
of  the  sun.  These  men  were  named  after  the  twelve 
apostles,  and  were  regularly  enlisted  as  a  part  of  the 
ship's  company.  They  were  splendid  specimens  of  the 
African  boatman,  and  knew  their  business  thoroughly. 
We  also  had  a  very  able  whaleboat,  which  I  proposed 
using  to  land  the  officers,  who,  in  full  dress,  were  to 
form  my  staff  in  this  visit  of  ceremony.  When  the 
boat  was  manned  and  ready  to  leave  the  ship,  Mr. 
Turner  insisted  that  I  should  go  with  him  in  his  small 
boat,  which  I  finally  consented  to  do,  to  get  rid  of 
his  importunities.  I  sent  our  whaler  in  first,  and  then 

1 80 


The   President   of  Liberia 

consigned  myself,  epaulets  and  all,  to  Mr.  Turner 
and  his  two  oarsmen,  feeling  as  I  did  so  that  I  was 
taking  chances  both  from  drowning  and  from  the 
vicious-looking  tiger-sharks  that  were  present  in  great 
numbers. 

The  bar  at  the  entrance  to  this  harbour  was 
known  as  one  of  the  worst  on  the  coast,  and  on  this 
occasion  the  surf  was  breaking  heavily  on  it.  As 
we  approached  it  I  watched  our  whaler  ahead  of  us 
to  see  how  she  would  behave.  The  cockswain,  a  per 
fect  black  Hercules,  St.  Paul  by  name,  handled  the 
steering  oar,  and  at  the  proper  moment  sent  the  boat 
racing  on  top  of  a  wave  over  the  bar  in  the  most  ap 
proved  style.  Our  little  cockleshell  also  went  over 
beautifully,  but  not  without  wetting  all  of  us  pretty 
thoroughly.  When  we  landed  I  asked  Mr.  Turner  why 
he  had  insisted  on  my  coming  in  with  him,  to  which 
,he  replied,  "  You  see,  sir,  if  you  had  not  landed  with 
me,  these  niggers  here  would  have  said  that  you  con 
sidered  yourself  too  good  to  come  in  the  same  boat 
with  me." 

After  a  walk  of  five  minutes  over  a  bare,  sun 
baked  clay  hill,  without  one  sprig  of  anything  green, 
where  the  naked  negro  children  were  playing,  uncon 
scious  of  their  nakedness,  we  came  to  the  humble  home 
of  President  Roberts,  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia.  He 
had  been  raised  a  slave  near  Petersburg,  in  Virginia, 
and  I  found  him  a  person  of  pleasing  manners  and 
assured  ability — just  the  man  to  preside  over  the 
destinies  of  his  fellow-Africans.  He  had  gathered  his 
Cabinet  about  him,  and  I  was  presented  to  the  differ 
ent  members — the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Secretary  of 
13  181 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  Navy,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  so  on 
through  the  list.  During  the  conversation  that  fol 
lowed  I  heard  the  rustling  of  a  silk  dress,  and  instinc 
tively  rose  to  my  feet.  There  before  me  stood  a  short, 
neat,  very  black  woman,  and,  without  waiting  for  an 
introduction,  I  shocked  myself  by  saying,  "  How  do 
you  do,  aunty?  "  to  which  she  replied,  with  a  cour 
tesy,  "  Very  well,  thank  you,  sir."  I  was  instantly 
aware  of  my  mistake  in  so  addressing  the  wife  of  a 
President,  but  was  relieved  of  all  embarrassment  by 
the  hearty  laugh  of  Mr.  Roberts,  and  the  query, 
"  What  part  of  the  South  do  you  come  from,  cap 
tain?  " 

Some  very  warm,  sour  champagne  was  served,  and 
after  pledging  the  high  consideration  of  my  Govern 
ment  for  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  I  took  my  departure, 
followed  by  the  entire  Cabinet  and  half  a  hundred 
naked  young  negroes,  ranging  from  four  to  eight  years 
of  age.  Mr.  Turner  insisted  that  I  should  call  on  each 
Cabinet  minister  according  to  his  rank;  and,  for 
fear  of  giving  offence,  I  did  so.  At  each  house  or 
hut  I  was  entertained  with  such  food  and  drink  as 
the  owners  possessed,  and  everywhere  a  hearty  wel 
come.  I  was  told — and  it  was  painfully  evident  with 
out  the  telling — that  the  people  were  wretchedly  poor, 
and  the  revenues  of  the  republic  barely  sufficient  to 
pay  the  salaries  of  the  Cabinet  ministers,  and  therefore 
no  public  improvements  could  be  undertaken.  There 
was  not  the  first  sign  of  an  army  or  navy,  or  indeed 
a  need  for  either;  yet  the  two  secretaries  were  on  hand 
and  ready  at  least  to  draw  their  pay  when  the  treas 
ury  was  in  condition  to  pay  it. 

182 


Capturing   a   Shark 

After  visiting  the  mayor  I  returned  to  the  ship,  this 
time  in  my  own  boat,  and  was  most  favourably  im 
pressed  by  the  cleverness  with  which  our  Kroomen 
brought  us  over  the  wicked-looking  bar.  The  sharks 
were  snapping  at  the  oars  most  of  the  way,  and  if  we 
had  capsized  nothing  could  have  saved  us — at  least  the 
white  men  of  the  party;  the  blacks  do  not  seem  a  fa 
vourite  article  of  food  with  these  sea-tigers.  Of  course 
I  had  read,  as  many  others  had,  very  glowing  accounts 
of  the  missions,  churches,  and  schools  of  Liberia.  I  can 
only  say  they  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence  at  the 
time  of  my  visit.  The  word  "  republic  "  was  never  more 
abused  and  insulted  and  misused  than  by  applying  it 
to  what  I  saw  in  Liberia. 

During  the  time  we  had  been  at  anchor  off  Mon 
rovia  a  particularly  large  man-eating  shark  had  re 
mained  constantly  about  the  ship,  swallowing  empty 
meat  cans  and  such  other  trash  as  suited  him.  As  soon 
as  I  had  time  to  spare  for  him  I  prepared  a  beautiful 
bait  for  his  dinner,  which  he  took  readily,  and  it  was 
all  twenty  good  men  could  do  to  capture  him  after 
he  was  hooked.  We  hoisted  him  up  nearly  to  the 
main  yard,  and  literally  "  shot  him  full  of  holes." 
More  than  a  hundred  rifle  and  revolver  balls  were  fired 
through  him,  and,  thinking  he  was  dead,  I  had  him 
lowered  on  the  upper  deck,  and  allowed  such  men  as 
had  a  spite  against  him  to  stick  their  knives  into  him, 
if  they  could.  He  was  old  and  had  a  very  thick  hide. 
Finally,  one  of  the  men  took  a  battle-axe  from  a  gun 
carriage  and  struck  him  a  hard  blow  on  the  top  of  his 
head,  which  seemed  to  wake  him  up  again.  He  raised 
himself  as  quick  as  a  flash  and  brought  his  tail  down 

183 


A  Sailor's  Log 

with  a  crack  that  made  all  hands  stand  clear  of  him 
in  a  hurry.  We  then  killed  him  "  entirely,"  as  the 
Irishman  said,  by  cutting  his  tail  off,  which  of  course 
severed  his  spinal  column  and  put  an  end  to  him. 
After  decapitating  him  I  cut  out  fourteen  feet  of  his 
backbone  and  had  it  cleaned  and  preserved,  with  the 
head,  as  a  sample  of  what  a  man-eater  is  like  in  size. 

The  stomach  contained  a  curious  lot  of  things:  first 
I  took  out  a  turtle  shell,  which  measured  eighteen 
inches  across  the  back  and  was  as  clear  and  transparent 
as  the  most  beautiful  piece  one  could  see  in  a  shop  in 
Naples.  Then  I  took  out  the  thigh  bone  of  a  bullock, 
and  a  good  large  one  it  was.  The  last  thing  I  found 
was  a  black  flint  stone  weighing  twenty  pounds,  which 
I  suppose  he  had  swallowed,  or  rather  picked  up,  with 
the  turtle  from  the  bottom.  I  did  not  find  any  gold 
watches  or  diamond  rings.  When  the  jaws,  which  had 
four  rows  of  teeth,  had  been  dried  and  shellacked,  I 
could  pass  them  over  the  head  and  shoulders  of  the 
largest  man  in  the  ship  without  their  touching  his 
clothing.  In  other  words,  he  could  have  swallowed 
an  ordinary  man  without  the  trouble  of  biting  him  in 
two.  I  afterward  presented  them  to  the  library  of  the 
Portsmouth  Navy  Yard,  where  they  may  still  be  an 
object  of  interest  to  the  curious. 

From  Monrovia  we  ran  to  Cape  Palmas,  which  was 
to  be  the  southern  point  of  our  cruise.  On  arrival  we 
found  there  was  no  real  trouble  with  the  natives. 
They  had  threatened  to  lunch  on  some  of  our  mis 
sionaries,  but  had  not  carried  out  their  threat.  A  short 
exercise  on  shore  with  a  Catling  gun  firing  at  a  tar 
get,  which  we  left  for  them  to  study  over,  convinced 

184 


Coaling   under   Difficulties 

them  that  they  really  could  get  on  without  eating 
American  missionaries. 

The  question  of  coal  had  now  become  a  most  seri 
ous  one;  have  it  we  must,  but  how  to  get  it  was 
the  question.  There  was  none  in  sight  anywhere 
within  our  reach.  The  prospect  of  beating  back  under 
canvas  against  the  trades  was  not  a  pleasing  one. 
While  on  shore  one  day  I  made  inquiries  about  the 
wreck  of  a  large  English  steamer  on  the  sands,  and 
found  that  she  had  been  loaded  with  prepared  fuel — 
coal  bricks  they  were  called.  On  boarding  her  I 
found  to  my  great  satisfaction  that  the  fuel  was  still  in 
good  condition,  and  that  there  was  plenty  of  it.  After 
some  trouble  I  arranged  with  the  owner  to  purchase 
as  much  as  we  could  stow,  and  then  hired  enough  na 
tives  to  boat  it  off  to  us  through  the  surf,  which  was 
always  breaking  heavily  on  the  beach.  We  used  our 
own  boats  for  the  purpose,  but  the  sun  was  too  hot  to 
risk  working  our  own  men,  except  to  stow  the  fuel 
after  it  was  delivered  on  board.  For  four  days  we 
worked  away  steadily,  and  succeeded  in  getting  enough 
on  board  to  carry  us  back  to  Sierra  Leone. 

Most  of  this  time  I  was  at  work  myself,  spending 
many  hours  on  shore  and  about  the  wreck,  where  I 
had  a  good  chance  of  observing  the  native  workmen. 
They  were  a  muscular  lot  of  savages,  and,  generally 
speaking,  worked  well.  The  lazy  ones  were  stimulated 
by  the  head  man  with  a  good  stout  whip  which  he 
carried  as  a  sort  of  badge  of  office.  They  were  stripped 
to  the  skin,  and  had  enormous  pads  of  matted  hair  on 
their  heads,  which  apparently  was  the  growth  and 
accumulation  of  years.  I  was  interested  in  seeing 

185 


A  Sailor's  Log 

them  feed.  When  meal  time  came  each  would  pull  a 
handful  of  Chili  peppers,  which  were  as  hot  as  any 
thing  could  be;  then  from  the  nearest  tree  he  would 
secure  half  a  dozen  fresh  limes,  which  he  split  open  and 
salted;  these,  with  hard  bread  and  a  small  portion  of 
dried  fish,  formed  the  ration  of  as  hard-worked  a  lot 
of  men  as  I  ever  saw.  Their  work  was  performed 
under  a  tropical  sun,  where  white  men  could  not  have 
done  anything.  On  board  ship  we  were  practically 
living  on  salt  rations,  because  there  was  nothing  on 
shore  to  buy,  except  fruit,  which  was  very  good,  and 
black  pigs.  Even  the  pigs  in  this  country  were  black. 

We  were  glad  to  point  the  good  ship  north  again, 
and  when  we  anchored  at  Sierra  Leone  the  official  calls 
fell  to  my  lot,  as  the  captain  was  still  on  the  sick  list. 
The  following  extract  from  my  journal  is  of  interest: 

"  On  this  occasion  my  staff  consisted  of  young 
Zeilin,  of  the  marines,  an  excellent  fellow.  Wasn't  it 
hot !  The  house  of  the  governor  is  on  a  hill  about  half 
a  mile  high,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the  door  the  per 
spiration  was  running  over  the  tops  of  my  shoes.  The 
governor  gave  us  some  brandy  and  soda  with  ice,  the 
first  we  had  seen  since  leaving  Madeira,  which  had  a 
wonderfully  cooling  effect.  When  we  left,  he  invited 
us  to  dine  the  following  evening,  and  we  were  quick 
to  accept  the  invitation — grub  has  been  awful  on  the 
coast  of  Africa. 

"  After  leaving  Government  House  we  had  to 
climb  about  two  miles  more  over  the  hills  before  we 
reached  the  barracks,  where  we  had  more  brandy  and 
soda  and  plenty  of  time  to  cool  off.  The  officers  and 
men,  part  of  a  West  India  regiment,  had  just  returned 

1 86 


An   African    Magnate 

from  Ashantee,  and  had  lots  of  interesting  things  to 
show  and  plenty  to  talk  about.  Among  other  things, 
the  colonel  had  a  couple  of  young  boa  constrictors 
about  four  feet  long  and  very  gentle,  but  able  to  give 
one  a  good  squeeze  if  allowed  to  coil  around  the  body. 

"  On  the  way  back  to  the  ship  I  called  to  see  the 
great  character  of  Sierra  Leone,  one  Sibyl  Boyle.  He 
had  been  taken  from  a  slave  ship  when  about  eight 
years  of  age,  and,  having  no  name  of  his  own,  was 
given  that  of  the  ship  Sibyl  and  of  her  Captain  Boyle. 
He  was  an  industrious  lad,  and  gradually  worked  his 
way  up,  until  now  he  is  the  richest  and  most  influen 
tial  man  in  the  place,  and  has  a  fine  family  around  him. 
If  some  of  his  neighbours  would  only  follow  his  ex 
ample  we  might  hope  that  some  day  Africa  would  be 
developed  by  her  own  race,  but  as  things  stand  now 
the  white  race  must  eventually  own  the  whole  outfit." 

One  of  our  officers,  Lieutenant  J.  D.  J.  Kelly,  was 
condemned  by  medical  survey  at  Sierra  Leone,  and 
sent  home  via  England.  The  doctors  thought  him  in 
the  last  stages  of  heart  disease,  and  doubted  if  he 
would  live  to  reach  London.  I  knew  nothing  about 
such  things,  of  course,  but  differed  with  the  medical 
men  on  principle;  there  should  always  be  two  sides  to 
every  question,  and  I  took  the  only  side  left  in  this 
case.  Kelly  seemed  much  cheered  up  by  my  asser 
tion  that  his  heart  sounded  like  a  music-box  to  me, 
and  he  left  us  in  fairly  good  condition.  Twenty-five 
years  after  this  I  find  him  in  good  health,  and  writing 
very  vigorous  articles  for  one  of  the  leading  news 
papers  of  his  country. 

Having  refilled  our  coal  bunkers  at  Sierra  Leone, 
187 


A  Sailor's  Log 

we  put  to  sea  and  headed  for  Madeira;  but  the  coal- 
dealer  had  done  us  a  dirty  trick — the  coal  would  not 
burn;  at  least  most  of  it  would  not,  so  we  had  to 
work  up  under  sail  to  Porto  Grande.  On  the  way 
up  we  lost  our  first  man  by  death  since  leaving  Key 
West.  He  was  a  young  chap  who  had  run  away  from 
home  to  go  to  sea.  He  showed  no  concern  about 
dying,  and  never  gave  me  the  slightest  clew  by  which 
I  could  find  his  family,  though  I  used  my  best  efforts 
to  make  him  do  so.  We  sewed  him  up  in  his  ham 
mock,  backed  the  maintopsail,  hoisted  the  flag  at  half- 
mast,  called,  "  All  hands  bury  the  dead!  "  and  launched 
him  overboard  with  a  stand  of  grape  for  company  on 
his  long  trip. 

Back  once  more  at  Porto  Grande,  we  lost  no  time 
in  cramming  our  bunkers  full  of  coal  and  starting 
again  for  Madeira.  This  time  I  felt  sure  that  we  could 
not  steam  directly  to  our  port  of  destination;  I  there 
fore  put  the  ship  under  sail  and  stood  off  into  the 
Atlantic,  determined  not  to  get  caught  again  as  we 
were  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  climate  was  now 
suitable,  and  I  resumed  the  drills,  which  had  been  sus 
pended  for  fear  of  overworking  the  men  in  the  tropical 
sun.  The  effects  of  careful  training  and  instruction 
were  beginning  to  show,  and  I  felt  that  we  should  be 
able  to  hold  our  own  with  the  best  of  them  when  we 
finally  reached  the  Mediterranean. 

Day  by  day  we  gradually  gained  on  the  island  of 
Madeira,  until  I  at  last  felt  that  I  could  safely  start  the 
engines  and  do  the  distance  under  steam.  The  sails 
were  snugly  furled,  the  light  yards  sent  down,  and  the 
gentlemen  of  the  engine  room  had  us  in  their  hands. 

188 


News   from    Home 

We  had  been  a  long  time  in  making  the  last  lap  of  our 
trip,  but  on  July  i6th  we  ran  in  and  anchored  once  more 
off  the  beautiful  town  of  Funchal,  in  the  island  of 
Madeira.  All  hands  were  anxious  for  news  of  sweet 
hearts  or  wives,  and  as  soon  as  the  health  officer  gave 
us  a  clean  bill  we  sent  in  for  our  mails,  and  there  came 
many  fat-looking  bags.  For  the  first  time  in  five 
months  I  had  news  of  my  family.  In  all  that  time  my 
letters  had  been  accumulating,  and  not  a  line  had 
reached  me.  I  had  been  rattled  many  times  over  the 
thoughts  of  what  might  have  happened,  but  now  it 
was  all  right.  Going  away  to  sea  is  awfully  hard  at 
times,  but  it  is  no  end  of  fun  when  you  come  back 
again.  I  opened  the  latest-dated  letter,  and  found  that 
my  people  were  all  well  and  somewhere  up  in  the  north 
of  England.  I  stowed  the  others  away  to  be  read  when 
I  had  more  time  at  my  disposal. 

The  captain  was  much  improved  since  we  left  Porto 
Grande,  and  I  was  able  to  get  him  on  shore  at  once, 
where  I  knew  he  would  be  comfortable  away  from  the 
noises  of  the  ship  and  the  smell  of  the  paint  I  was  going 
to  put  on  her.  All  hands  took  hold  with  a  will,  and  at 
the  end  of  ten  days  everything  was  in  fine  shape  and  the 
ship  ready  for  any  service  she  might  be  called  on  to  per 
form,  while  she  was  beautiful  to  look  at,  and  I  was  not 
afraid  to  have  any  one  inspect  her.  The  captain  had 
quite  recovered,  and  was  himself  again — kind  and 
genial,  and  a  seaman  every  inch  of  him.  When  I  had 
him  on  board  and  everything  ready,  we  got  under  way 
for  Gibraltar,  where  we  arrived  safely  a  few  days  later. 


189 


CHAPTER   XVII 

IN   THE    MEDITERRANEAN 

AT  Gibraltar  I  was  granted  leave,  and  was  fortu 
nate  enough  to  catch  a  P.  and  O.  steamer  the  next 
day,  bound  for  Liverpool.  My  fellow-passengers  were 
for  the  most  part  officers  of  the  English  army  inva 
lided  home  from  India,  where  they  had  been  broken 
down  in  the  Queen's  service.  They  were  a  fine  lot  of 
patriotic  men,  anxious  only  to  get  well  enough  to  re 
join  the  colours  and  die  in  harness.  My  room  mate 
was  a  Major  McLean,  of  the  Rifle  Brigade,  who  had 
come  to  America  with  the  troops  sent  over  at  the  time 
the  Trent  affair  threatened  to  involve  us  in  war  with 
England.  We  soon  became  very  good  friends,  and 
he  gave  me  much  interesting  information  about  his 
service  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  He  considered 
his  experience  at  the  time  of  the  Trent  affair  unique, 
and  it  certainly  was.  When  the  transport  with  him 
and  his  men  reached  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
they  found  the  ice  so  bad  that  they  could  not  get  to 
Montreal,  so  they  went  to  a  port  in  the  State  of  Maine, 
and,  by  permission  of  our  Government,  were  sent  to 
their  destination  to  get  ready  to  come  back  and  fight 
us.  He  thought  it  a  very  dangerous  thing  for  us  to 
have  done,  but  I  assured  him  that  one  or  two  brigades 

190 


At   Marseilles 

of  English  troops,  more  or  less,  would  not  have  made 
the  least  difference  to  us  at  that  time,  if  we  had  made 
up  our  minds  to  fight. 

I  found  my  family  at  Carlisle,  in  the  north  of  Eng 
land,  and  from  there  we  journeyed  slowly  back  to  Lon 
don,  tarried  there  a  few  days,  and  then  on  to  Paris,  and 
shortly  to  Italy. 

After  a  delightful  drive  over  the  Cornice  road,  we 
arrived  at  Spezzia,  where  we  found  comfortable  quar 
ters  and  quite  a  navy  colony  at  the  Croce  di  Malta, 
a  quiet,  well-conducted  small  hotel,  where  one  could 
have  a  charming  breakfast  in  the  open  air  under  the 
shade  of  the  fig  trees. 

The  Congress  had  in  the  meantime  been  docked 
and  cleaned  and  thoroughly  overhauled.  I  found  her 
lying  in  the  stream,  looking  smart  and  ready  for  work, 
which  the  admiral  soon  gave  us  with  a  liberal  hand. 
After  a  week  or  ten  days  we  joined  the  flagship  at 
Marseilles,  which  was  selected  as  a  suitable  port  for 
giving  liberty  to  our  men,  who  had  been  on  board 
steadily  since  we  left  Key  West.  Our  three  hundred 
and  fifty,  added  to  the  eight  hundred  of  the  Franklin, 
kept  the  police  force  of  the  city  pretty  busy  until  their 
money  was  spent,  when  they  once  more  settled  down 
to  their  regular  routine  life. 

Captain  English  believed  in  the  old  custom  of  giv 
ing  liberty  by  watches,  and  this  plan  was  followed  in 
this  case;  but  it  was  the  last  time  it  was  ever  done  on 
that  ship.  It  was  favoured,  I  suppose,  because  the 
trouble  was  sooner  over.  I  can't  imagine  any  other 
reason  for  it.  The  idea  was  that  the  men  would  get 
drunk  and  raise  all  sorts  of  rows  whenever  they  went  on 

191 


A  Sailor's  Log 

shore,  and  therefore  the  more  we  sent  at  a  time  the 
sooner  it  would  be  done  with.  The  men  certainly 
justified  this  opinion  at  Marseilles. 

The  captain  went  to  Paris  for  a  week,  and  so 
escaped  much  annoyance;  but  I  had  it  to  face,  and  it 
was  very  bad.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  do 
all  I  could  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  such  scenes  as 
I  had  witnessed,  and,  when  the  captain  had  had  a  full 
description  of  it  all,  I  prevailed  upon  him  to  allow  me 
to  arrange  the  crew  in  conduct  classes.  After  a  rea 
sonable  time  I  found  that  the  men  could  be  relied  on 
to  behave  themselves  decently,  and  liberty  was  given 
them  in  every  port  we  visited.  Of  course  we  had  men, 
and  I  regret  to  say  some  of  them  the  best  seamen  on 
board,  who  got  drunk  and  fought  the  police  every  time 
they  went  on  shore.  The  only  reason  we  had  them 
was  because  of  this:  if  they  could  have  controlled  their 
taste  for  liquor  they  would  have  remained  on  shore. 
I  had  a  very  warm  place  in  my  heart  for  these  chaps, 
and  always  found  them  leading  when  there  was  hard 
work  to  be  done,  and  in  the  right  spot  when  there  was 
trouble.  But  they  certainly  were  hard  to  manage. 
The  great  majority  of  our  men  were  quiet,  respectable 
lads,  who  went  and  came  when  they  were  off  duty  and 
had  money  to  spend. 

From  Marseilles  the  admiral  took  us  with  him  for 
a  long  cruise,  stopping  first  at  Barcelona,  and  then 
running  down  to  Port  Mahon  in  the  Balearic  Islands, 
where  we  landed  the  battalions  of  the  two  ships  for 
shore  drills.  The  officers  senior  to  me  were  either 
sick  or  had  some  other  good  excuse,  and  I  was  there 
fore  detailed  to  command,  much  to  my  disgust,  for 

192 


Features   of  Port   Mahon 

I  have  always  found  soldiering  the  least  desirable  part 
of  my  profession.  We  managed  to  amuse  the  natives 
of  the  island  and  please  the  admiral,  so  the  drills  were 
considered  a  success.  The  only  real  good  of  it  all  was 
the  physical  exercise  the  men  received.  In  former 
years,  when  we  maintained  a  large  Mediterranean 
squadron  of  sailing  ships,  Port  Mahon  was  our  head 
quarters,  and  the  people,  when  we  visited  the  port, 
seemed  glad  to  see  our  ships  once  more,  and  treated  us 
with  great  courtesy. 

All  my  life  I  had  heard  of  two  things  that  came  from 
Port  Mahon  and  from  no  other  place.  One  was  sobra 
sada,  a  sausage,  made  in  a  peculiar  way,  or  rather  from 
unusual  ingredients;  and  the  other  date  fish,  a  long 
shellfish  much  resembling  a  razor  clam,  which  is  ob 
tained  from  the  soft  stones  of  the  harbour  and  vicinity 
where  he  makes  his  home.  The  stones  are  broken  open, 
and  in  the  mass  is  found  embedded  this  peculiar  crus 
tacean.  I  tried  the  qualities  of  both  of  them,  and  at 
once  became  a  convert  to  sobra  sada,  which,  broiled  and 
served  on  toast,  is  one  of  the  best  breakfast  dishes  I 
have  ever  eaten. 

On  the  conclusion  of  our  Port  Mahon  visit  we 
ran  off  to  the  southward  and  cruised  for  some  weeks 
about  the  island  of  Sicily,  visiting  several  ports,  and 
finally  anchoring  at  Messina.  Here  we  remained  long 
enough  to  receive  and  send  mails  and  get  a  taste  of 
fresh  food  for  the  men,  when  we  sailed  for  the  Ionian 
Islands,  visiting  among  other  places  Zante,  which 
produced  practically  the  supply  of  currants  for  the 
world.  Then,  after  a  stop  in  Suda  Bay  for  target 
practice,  we  ran  down  to  the  Piraeus,  and  finally  to 

193 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Naples,  where  we  moored  in  the  inner  harbour,  pre 
pared  for  a  stay  of  ten  days. 

While  in  Suda  Bay  I  had  one  day  to  spare,  which 
I  spent  on  shore  with  my  gun  and  an  officer  com 
panion.  We  found  very  little  in  the  way  of  game,  but 
I  was  much  interested  in  observing  the  Greek  natives, 
who  spend  their  lives  in  primitive  simplicity.  They  are 
herders  of  sheep,  and  small  farmers,  as  they  think;  but 
their  poverty  is  beyond  anything  the  farmers  of  the 
United  States  could  understand.  Even  the  inhabitants 
of  our  poorhouses  would  consider  themselves  wealthy 
when  compared  with  these  excellent,  hard-working, 
simple  people.  I  stopped  at  one  of  their  houses  in  the 
hills  to  get  a  glass  of  water  to  drink  with  my  luncheon 
at  noon.  The  family  soon  assembled  about  me,  and 
offered  me  what  they  had  in  the  way  of  food.  This  con 
sisted  of  a  large  wooden  bowl  of  black  olives — olives  in 
their  natural  state  allowed  to  ripen  on  the  tree — black 
bread  almost  as  hard  as  a  stone,  and  a  cup  of  goat's 
milk.  They  never  ate  meat,  and  when  I  showed  them 
a  ham  sandwich,  which  my  servant  had  prepared  on 
board  ship,  they  made  me  understand  that  they  had 
never  before  seen  or  heard  of  ham,  and  the  same  thing 
happened  when  I  showed  them  a  piece  of  cold  beef.  I 
wondered  at  the  change  that  must  have  come  to  them 
since  the  creation  of  the  Venus  of  Milo,  which  had 
been  found  in  this  country. 

We  wrere  moored  near  some  Italian  war  vessel  at 
Naples,  and  soon  found  friends  among  the  officers, 
who  took  great  pleasure  in  arranging  short  trips  for 
us,  frequently  going  themselves  to  show  us  objects  of 
interest.  Among  these  officers  I  came  to  know  two 

194 


A   Storm   at   Naples 

brothers  very  well.  One  morning  it  was  rumoured 
that  a  duel  had  been  fought,  and  one  Italian  officer 
instantly  killed.  Later  in  the  day  I  learned  that  these 
two  friends  of  mine  had  had  a  quarrel;  that  one  had 
drawn  a  pistol  and  fired  at  the  other,  wounding  him, 
and  thinking  that  he  had  killed  his  brother,  put  the 
pistol  to  his  head  and  blew  his  own  brains  out.  The 
wounded  brother  recovered.  Not  much  of  a  duel 
about  that,  certainly. 

We  had  been  at  Naples  but  a  few  days  when  a 
gale  came  on — one  of  those  furious  blasts  that  last 
only  a  few  hours,  but  frequently  do  great  damage. 
The  stern  chains  of  the  Franklin,  secured  to  the  stone 
breakwater,  began  to  show  signs  of  parting,  and  the 
admiral,  in  order  to  ease  things  up,  made  signal  for 
both  ships  to  send  down  lower  yards  and  topmasts. 
The  spar  drill  I  had  so  carefully  given  our  men  enabled 
us  to  land  our  lower  yards  across  the  rail  in  twenty 
minutes,  leaving  nothing  showing  above  the  hull  but 
the  bare  lower  masts,  which  was  fine  work,  and  most 
gratifying  to  officers  and  men.  The  Franklin  was  a 
much  heavier-sparred  ship  than  we  were,  and  took 
nearly  two  hours  to  get  things  snugged  down  in  good 
shape.  The  following  morning,  the  gale  having  blown 
out,  the  admiral  signalled,  "  Cross  royal  yards  and  loose 
sails  to  a  bowline,"  as  a  colour  evolution.  The  whole 
foreign  fleet  had  their  glasses  on  us,  and  we  received 
compliments  on  the  smartness  of  our  drill.  We  felt 
sufficiently  rewarded  for  all  the  hard  work  we  had  done 
when  the  signal,  "  Well  done,  Congress,"  flew  from 
the  flagship. 

From  Naples  we  cruised  along  the  coast  of  Syria, 
195 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  then  ran  on  to  Nice.  Each  ship  had  an  allowance 
of  coal  for  the  year,  and  the  greater  part  of  ours  had 
been  expended,  so  that  we  could  not  expect  any  active 
cruising  for  several  months.  In  fact,  we  remained 
tied  up  to  a  buoy  for  five  months.  It  looked  as  if 
we  would  ground  on  our  beef  bones  before  we  got 
away  from  it.  Our  race  boat,  in  which  I  took  a  per 
sonal  interest,  that  extended  to  training  the  men,  won 
from  all  comers  and  held  the  championship.  Dur 
ing  the  winter  the  Russian  admiral  came  in  with  a 
flagship  noted  for  her  smart  .work  aloft.  We  watched 
her  drills  carefully  for  a  few  days,  and,  having  learned 
all  her  tricks,  followed  her  motions  and  beat  her  badly 
in  everything  she  tried.  The  decks  of  the  Congress 
were  particularly  well  suited  for  quick  work,  and  her 
crew  by  this  time  was  in  excellent  condition.  Each 
man  felt  that  the  reputation  of  the  ship  depended  on 
his  personal  efforts,  and  the  result  was  all  we  could  ask. 
Nice,  only  half  an  hour  away,  was  crowded  with 
visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  among  them  many 
of  our  own  countrymen.  We  were  invited,  of  course, 
to  entertainments  of  every  possible  kind,  which  we  had 
to  accept  and  in  some  way  return.  This  came  hard 
on  many  of  the  officers  who  had  only  their  pay  to 
live  on,  and  no  allowance  from  the  Government  for 
entertaining,  such  as  was  given  to  the  officers  of  all 
other  navies — the  "  table  money  "  of  the  English  ad 
miral  was  equal  to  the  whole  pay  of  our  admiral;  but 
we  had  it  to  do,  and  we  did  it  handsomely.  We  estab 
lished  Thursday  as  our  reception  da}',  and  our  dances 
were  attended  and  enjoyed  by  guests  from  every  coun 
try  in  Europe,  as  well  as  a  great  many  Americans. 

196 


At   the   Gambling   Tables 

Monaco  was  only  half  an  hour  away  by  rail,  and 
many  of  us  lost  what  little  money  we  could  spare  at 
this  fascinating  gambling  resort.  I  always  secured  a 
return  ticket  and  reserved  a  few  francs  to  pay  the  cab 
after  my  humiliating  experience,  when  I  had  to  wake 
my  wife  up  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to  borrow 
money  to  pay  for  driving  me  home  from  the  sta 
tion.  Everything  was  done  at  Monte  Carlo  to  at 
tract  people  and  make  them  enjoy  themselves.  The 
gambling  games  were  fairly  conducted,  the  cafes  were 
the  finest  in  Europe,  and  the  music  the  best  that 
money  could  furnish.  The  society  was  mixed.  Most 
of  the  people  who  visited  the  place  went  first  to  the 
cafes,  then  to  the  gambling  tables,  and  then  listened 
to  the  music.  Of  course,  there  were  some  who 
listened  to  the  music  for  the  love  of  music,  but  most 
of  those  whom  I  observed  looked  as  if  they  wished 
they  had  not  come.  I  often  felt  that  way  myself. 
The  great  interest  to  me  was  watching  the  crowd  of 
gamblers  as  they  lost  or  won.  As  a  rule,  the  Ameri 
cans  played  the  best  game,  and  took  their  medicine 
most  quietly.  Occasionally  some  foreign  chap  would 
lose  his  fortune,  and  by  way  of  making  up  for  it  blow 
his  brains  out;  but  this  was  a  rare  occurrence,  as  the 
guards  were  very  clever  men,  and  usually  detected 
such  characters  in  time,  and  shipped  them  off  by  rail 
to  kill  themselves  somewhere  else. 

Through  the  Catholic  priest  at  Ville  Franche  and 
my  own  servants  I  learned  of  the  great  suffering 
among  the  poor  of  the  town,  and  made  up  my  mind  to 
do  what  I  could  to  relieve  them.  They  were  miser 
ably  poor,  and  the  suffering  was  very  great.  What 
14  197 


A  Sailor's  Log 

was  left  over  from  feeding  our  four  hundred  men  and 
thrown  overboard  would  go  a  long  way  toward  pro 
viding  them  with  meals  if  the  material  could  be  util 
ized.  I  had  a  number  of  large  tin  cans  made  with 
proper  covers,  and  these  at  meal  time  were  placed 
in  charge  of  the  police  of  the  ship,  who  saw  to  it  that 
all  scraps  of  bread  and  meat  and  meat  bones  were  col 
lected  and  placed  therein.  All  the  coffee  and  tea  left 
over  were  carefully  saved,  and  the  coffee  grounds  as 
well.  Our  men  took  an  active  interest  in  the  scheme 
as  soon  as  they  understood  what  was  intended,  and 
we  were  able  to  feed  four  or  five  hundred  people  all 
the  winter  through.  The  Catholic  institutions  on 
shore  received  our  cans  every  evening  and  returned 
them  early  the  next  morning  in  time  for  use  after 
breakfast,  and  from  their  contents  prepared  good,  rich 
soup  and  plenty  of  coffee  and  tea — much  stronger  than 
the  poor  peasants  had  ever  known  before.  When  I 
went  on  shore  I  was  kept  busy  returning  the  salutes 
of  those  who  had  been  comforted  by  our  charity.  It 
was  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  feel  that 
I  had  done  some  good  to  these  deserving  poor  people. 
When  the  winter  was  over  and  gone,  with  all  its 
gaieties,  we  went  to  cruising  again.  At  Gibraltar  we 
found  many  friends  among  the  officers  of  the  garrison. 
Among  others  I  recall  very  clearly  a  captain  of  a 
Welsh  regiment  who  was  most  amusing  and  witty. 
He  came  off  to  represent  his  regimental  mess,  and  was 
prevailed  upon  to  remain  to  dinner  and  take  potluck 
with  us.  In  a  moment  of  misplaced  confidence  he 
told  how  the  officers  of  the  United  States  storeship 
Ino  had  dined  with  them  during  the  civil  war,  and 

198 


A   Race   with    Spaniards 

how  they  had  all  gone  under  the  table  one  after  an 
other.  One  of  them,  who  wore  false  teeth,  had  been 
put  to  sleep  in  a  large,  comfortable  chair  in  the  cap 
tain's  room,  and  when  the  morning  came  there  was 
no  end  of  fun  finding  his  teeth  for  him.  I  saw  by  the 
look  on  the  faces  of  our  fellows  that  the  captain  had 
sealed  his  fate  by  this  story.  At  midnight  they  car 
ried  him  ashore  carefully,  took  him  to  his  quarters, 
and  deposited  him  in  the  identical  chair  where  the  Ino 
chap  had  lost  his  teeth.  We  saw  him  again  after  three 
days,  when  he  assured  us  that  we  had  done  him  up 
in  proper  shape.  He  really  had  a  keen  sense  of 
humour. 

A  new  survey  of  the  harbour  of  Malaga  was 
wanted,  so  we  ran  up  there,  and  Elmer,  our  navigator, 
soon  had  it  completed.  When  we  arrived  we  found  a 
regatta  arranged  for  the  following  day,  in  which  we 
were  asked  to  compete.  Several  twelve-  and  fourteen- 
oared  Spanish  boats  were  to  race,  so  we  entered  our 
twelve-oared  racing  cutter,  much  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Spanish  officers.  They  had  never  seen  our  peo 
ple  pull  a  race,  and  when  we  led  their  boats  to  the 
finish  line  by  quite  three  minutes  they  never  wanted 
to  see  them  do  it  again.  During  our  entire  stay  we 
were  crowded  with  visitors,  which  was  rather  surpris 
ing,  in  view  of  the  relations  then  existing  between  the 
two  countries;  but  they  came  by  hundreds  from  all 
directions,  and  represented  all  classes  of  society,  from 
the  general  commanding  to  the  common  labourer 
with  his  gamecock  under  his  arm. 

On  June  18,  1875,  we  anchored  in  Algiers,  after  a 
pleasant  run  from  Gibraltar  under  sail.  I  enjoyed  here 

199 


A  Sailor's  Log 

seeing  a  balloon  ascension,  the  most  successful  one  I 
ever  witnessed.  The  balloon  had  been  used  in  the 
siege  of  Paris,  and  afterward  in  the  Carlist  war  in 
Spain,  where  it  was  captured,  and  the  occupants  only 
escaped  being  shot  as  spies  by  the  earnest  interference 
of  the  French  minister.  On  this  occasion  everything 
worked  perfectly,  and  the  party,  after  sailing  out  over 
the  harbour,  at  a  height  of  about  two  miles,  descended 
until  they  struck  a  current  of  air  setting  toward  the 
land,  when  they  rapidly  disappeared  behind  a  moun 
tain  ten  or  twelve  miles  away. 

Tunis  was  our  next  port,  and  we  anchored  there 
on  July  ist.  The  American  consul,  Mr.  Heap,  lived 
with  his  charming  family  about  six  miles  out  of  town 
toward  the  ruins  of  Carthage;  and  here,  after  the  offi 
cial  visit  had  been  made,  we  found  a  most  cordial 
welcome.  Our  country  was  ably  represented  at  this 
point  at  least,  and  I  could  see  the  respect  in  which 
our  consul  was  held  by  all  classes. 

The  Bey  of  Tunis  had  expressed  a  desire,  after  visit 
ing  the  Congress,  to  see  the  effect  of  the  fire  of  one 
of  our  Catling  guns,  and  requested  that  we  land  one 
and  give  him  an  exhibition  drill.  The  captain  directed 
me  to  take  the  matter  in  hand  and  make  the  necessary 
arrangements,  which  I  did  on  July  3d. 

I  had  a  small-arm  target  anchored  at  a  point  six 
hundred  yards  from  the  shore  in  front  of  the  palace, 
so  that  the  ladies  of  the  harem  could  see  the  firing,  and 
when  everything  was  ready,  landed  the  gun  with  its  de 
tachment  and  quickly  went  into  action.  I  fired  six 
hundred  shots,  and  in  the  smoke,  before  any  one  could 
see  us,  dismounted  the  gun  and  placed  it  and  the  crew 

200 


Odd    Sport   at   Carthage 

behind  a  stone  wall.  When  the  smoke  cleared  away 
there  was  neither  gun  nor  man  in  sight.  The  firing 
took  one  minute,  and  in  order  to  show  the  Bey  the 
effect,  the  target  was  towed  in,  and  he  counted  five  hun 
dred  and  thirty  hits  on  it.  He  was  rather  stupefied  at 
first,  but  later  on  complimented  me  on  the  drill  of  the 
men  and  the  accuracy  of  the  fire.  After  I  had  ex 
plained  to  him  fully  the  working  of  the  gun  in  all  its 
parts,  he  directed  his  secretary  to  order  a  battery  of  six 
of  them,  which  was  done. 

The  numerous  old  wells  at  the  ruins  of  Carthage 
contained  great  numbers  of  bullfrogs  of  an  enormous 
size,  and  as  I  was  fond  of  frogs'  legs  I  started  in  a 
boat  to  try  my  luck  on  them.  Fortunately,  I  took  for 
the  trip  a  very  able  whaleboat,  the  one  we  had  used 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  When  we  were  about  four 
miles  from  the  ship  we  were  caught  in  a  sudden  furi 
ous  gale  of  wind.  For  two  hours  we  fought  hard  for 
our  lives,  and  when  we  finally  reached  the  ship  we 
were  all  pretty  well  used  up  and  of  course  as  wet  as 
rats,  and  had  no  frogs  to  show  for  our  trouble.  A 
great  sea  was  running  all  about  the  ship,  and  it  re 
quired  my  best  efforts  to  save  the  boat  and  get  the 
men  on  board  without  losing  some  of  them.  We  cele 
brated  the  Fourth  of  July  properly  at  Tunis,  and  in 
the  evening  got  under  way  for  Malta. 

This  key  to  the  Suez  Canal  had  been  fortified  by 
the  English  until  one  could  fairly  say  that  it  was  im 
pregnable.  It  was  always  strongly  garrisoned,  and  the 
headquarters  of  the  fine  Mediterranean  squadron. 
Our  arrival  was  the  signal  for  a  round  of  dinners  and 
luncheons  that  lasted  almost  to  the  hour  of  our  de- 

201 


A  Sailor's  Log 

parture.  I  met,  on  this  occasion,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  men  I  have  ever  known — Colonel  de  la 
Fosse,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  First  Regiment,  Eng 
lish  army.  He  was  a  fine,  brave  old  soldier,  full  of 
patriotism  and  love  for  his  Queen.  He  had  been  in 
Gawnpore  at  the  time  of  the  Indian  Mutiny,  and  was 
one  of  the  half-dozen  officers  who  succeeded  in  cutting 
his  way  out.  We  spent  many  hours  together,  and  I 
listened  while  he  modestly  recounted  his  experiences. 
We  left  this  celebrated  port  and  hospitable  garrison 
with  real  regret,  hoping  that  it  would  be  our  good 
fortune  to  visit  them  agalh. 

After  leaving  Malta  we  called  in  at  Tripoli.  We 
had  orders  from  Washington  to  collect  such  articles 
as  might  prove  of  interest  to  the  Centennial  Exposi 
tion  to  be  opened  at  Philadelphia  in  the  following 
year.  The  frigate  Philadelphia  had  been  burned  by 
Decatur  in  this  harbour,  after  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  Moors,  and  I  knew  that  a  piece  of  her  wreck 
would  be  considered  of  interest.  I  therefore  fitted  a 
launch  with  proper  grapnels  and  tackle,  and  after  a 
long  search  located  the  wreck  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  part  of  a  petrified  timber  which  had 
been  charred  through.  Many  of  the  iron  spikes  by 
which  the  planking  had  been  secured  still  remained  in 
the  piece,  and  it  was  curious  to  note  the  effect  of 
heat  and  their  long  immersion  in  salt  water.  They 
were  much  softer  than  when  first  driven — in  fact,  were 
almost  like  soft  lead.  I  secured  one  of  them  and 
afterward  had  a  set  of  jewelry  made  from  it  for  my 
wife  by  a  jeweller  in  Geneva.  The  trinkets  were  beau 
tifully  finished  and  perfectly  burnished,  but  no  amount 

202 


Overawing   a    Pasha 

of  care  would  prevent  them  from  rusting;  the  moisture 
seemed  to  exude  from  the  inside  of  the  metal.  The 
piece  of  timber  was  boxed  and  sent  to  the  Exposition, 
where  I  afterward  saw  it,  and  it  was  regarded  as  an 
object  of  much  interest. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  Corfu  we  were  thrown  into  a 
state  of  considerable  excitement  by  the  receipt  of  news 
that  the  American  consul  at  Tripoli  had  been  insulted 
by  the  Pasha,  or  some  of  his  people,  and  that  we  were 
to  be  sent  there  to  demand  and  exact  proper  repara 
tion.  We  had  lately  been  at  that  port  and,  having  in 
view  the  nature  of  the  defences,  wondered  how  one 
wooden  ship  could  do  much  against  them.  However, 
the  orders  came,  and  we  left  at  once  to  carry  them 
out.  When  we  arrived  off  the  town  we  found  all 
hands  much  excited,  and  there  was  great  marching 
and  countermarching  of  troops  about  the  batteries  and 
through  the  streets.  An  officer  was  sent  on  shore  to 
communicate  with  the  consul,  and  when  his  boat  ap 
proached  the  landing  place  the  crowd  jeered  and  spat 
at  him.  He  promptly  returned  to  the  ship  and  re 
ported  the  affair  to  the  captain,  who  sent  a  company 
of  marines  and  a  Gatling  gun  in  to  prevent  a  possi 
bility  of  trouble.  The  officer  landed  without  molesta 
tion  and  soon  had  the  consul  on  board.  The  Pasha, 
having  heard  of  the  conduct  of  the  mob  toward  our 
boat,  hurried  to  make  ample  apology,  which  was  ac 
cepted,  and  the  insult  to  the  consul  was  then  taken 
up.  He  had  reported  the  matter  to  the  State  Depart 
ment,  and  our  orders  from  Washington  were  positive. 
We  were  not  to  investigate  anything,  but  to  demand 
and  exact  ample  reparation  for  what  had  taken  place. 

203 


A  Sailor's  Log 

The  consul  insisted  that  he  had  been  grossly  insulted, 
and  his  premises  invaded  by  armed  Turkish  sailors. 
The  Pasha  insisted  that  a  thorough  investigation 
showed  that  there  had  been  no  insult  to  him,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  the  consul  had  attacked  or  assaulted  a 
Turkish  sailor,  and  it  was  only  out  of  consideration 
for  our  Government  that  he  was  not  fined  and 
locked  up. 

Our  captain  cut  the  discussion  short  by  stating 
what  his  orders  were,  and  that  immediate  apology  on 
the  part  of  the  Pasha  would  prevent  serious  trouble; 
to  which  the  Pasha  replied  by  manning  his  batteries, 
and  stating  that  he  had  done  nothing  to  apologise  for, 
and  that  the  Sultan  would  cut  his  head  off  if  he  did 
it.  At  this  stage  of  the  game  we  cleared  for  action, 
swung  our  ship  around  so  that  the  broadside  would 
bear  on  the  town,  and  sent  word  to  his  Excellency 
that  if  at  the  end  of  four  hours  we  had  not  received 
his  favourable  answer  we  should  open  fire  on  the  bat 
teries.  Within  an  hour  after  this  ultimatum  was  de 
livered  the  United  States  steamer  Hartford,  on  her 
way  home  from  China,  came  in,  anchored  near  us,  and 
cleared  for  action.  The  Pasha,  thinking  probably  that 
the  entire  American  navy  was  coming,  decided  that  he 
would  apologize  at  noon  the  next  day.  An  officer  of 
rank  was  detailed  to  witness  the  ceremony,  which  took 
place  at  the  American  consulate.  The  Pasha,  a  very 
dignified  gentleman,  did  the  proper  thing  in  every 
way,  said  that  he  ate  dirt  in  the  presence  of  the 
offended  person,  and  used  many  other  figures  of 
speech.  The  consul,  a  gentleman  from  the  far  South 
and  not  of  a  forgiving  turn  of  mind,  demanded  that 

204 


A   Trip   on    Land 

the  dirt  should  be  actually  eaten,  but  our  officer  put 
an  end  to  the  business,  brought  the  consul  and  his 
family  on  board  for  safe-keeping,  and  we  sailed  for 
Corfu,  the  orders  of  the  State  Department  having  been 
carried  out  to  the  letter.  Those  of  us  who  knew  the 
real  facts  in  the  case  were  not  very  proud  of  the  whole 
performance.  The  consul  was  living  on  the  seashore, 
some  distance  from  town,  when  the  Turkish  fleet  ar 
rived  and  sent  boats  in  to  obtain  water.  One  of  the 
sailors  ventured  into  the  kitchen  of  the  residence  to 
obtain  a  light  for  his  cigarette,  where  the  consul  found 
him,  and,  having  boxed  his  ears  soundly,  kicked  him 
out  of  the  inclosure.  The  other  sailors  sat  on  a  stone 
wall  and  jeered  at  the  consul,  who  made  complaint 
that  the  law  relating  to  harems  had  been  violated  by 
this  intrusion  of  the  sailor,  and  hence  the  deadly  in 
sult.  This  was  all  there  really  was  to  it. 

Upon  arriving  at  Corfu  again  I  was  granted  a 
short  leave,  which  I  spent  with  my  family  in  Switzer 
land.  When  my  leave  was  up  I  rejoined  my  ship  at 
Naples,  spending  one  day  and  night  in  Rome  on  my 
way  there.  This  trip  from  Geneva  to  Naples  will 
always  remain  in  my  mind  as  a  horror.  The  weather 
was  very  hot,  the  cars  very  dirty,  and  the  customs 
officers,  on  the  various  frontiers  I  crossed,  very  offi 
cious  and  trying;  but  Naples  was  the  same  fascinating 
place.  We  joined  the  flagship  at  Villefranche  to  have 
our  semi-annual  inspection,  which  was  somewhat  over 
due,  and  also  to  submit  casually  to  the  "  bossing " 
which  flagships  always  have  in  store  for  every  one 
except  the  flagship.  We  got  through  our  inspection 
very  creditably,  and  immediately  sailed  for  Leghorn, 

205 


A  Sailor's  Log 

where  we  were  to  have  our  decks  calked  and  do  some 
trifling  repairs.  After  dropping  both  our  bower  an 
chors  in  the  stream,  we  warped  our  stern  in  and  made 
fast  to  the  breakwater,  in  order  that  we  might  not 
take  up  room  in  swinging,  and  also  as  security  against 
the  gales,  which  at  times  blew  with  great  fury  and  did 
no  end  of  damage.  The  breakwater  was  of  stone, 
fifty-seven  feet  high,  and  most  solidly  built. 

The  gale  I  had  been  looking  for  came  at  a  most 
convenient  time;  the  captain  and  his  family  had  gone  to 
Rome,  and  the  calkers  had  nearly  completed  their  work, 
when,  without  much  warning,  it  struck  us  with  hur 
ricane  force.  I  naturally  thought  that,  secured  as  we 
were  behind  the  breakwater,  we  were  perfectly  safe; 
but  such  was  not  the  case.  One  of  our  chain  stern- 
fasts  crushed  the  iron  pipe  through  which  it  passed, 
and  in  a  few  seconds  ripped  a  hole  in  the  side  of  the 
ship  five  feet  long.  This  warning  was  instantly 
heeded,  and  in  a  short  time  our  lower  yards  and  top 
masts  were  on  deck,  which  left  only  the  upper  parts 
of  our  lower  masts  above  the  breakwater  to  catch  the 
wind.  At  the  same  time  our  two  heavy  sheet  anchors, 
which  stowed  well  aft  in  the  waist,  were  let  go  and 
the  chains  hove  taut,  which  prevented  the  ship  from 
forging  ahead  quickly  and  bringing  up  on  her  fasts 
with  a  jerk.  When  all  this  had  been  done  we  found 
ourselves  very  comfortable,  but  in  a  little  while  a  new 
danger  threatened  us:  the  sea,  which  rose  rapidly  as 
the  gale  increased,  began  breaking  over  the  top  of 
the  breakwater,  and  tons  of  water  came  pounding 
down  on  our  decks.  In  face  of  this  I  could  only 
batten  the  hatches  down  to  keep  the  water  from  get- 

206 


A   Lively    Octopus 

ting  below,  and  grin  and  bear  it  until  the  gale  blew 
out.  It  was  an  annoyance  rather  than  a  serious  dan 
ger.  If  we  had  Broken  loose  from  the  breakwater  we 
would  certainly  have  sunk  six  vessels  as  we  swung  to 
our  anchors,  not  to  mention  the  probable  damage  to 
the  Congress.  The  idea  of  changing  our  berth  was 
out  of  the  question;  we  could  only  hold  on  to  the  one 
we  had  with  ail  our  might. 

After  the  gale  had  blown  itself  out,  which  it  did  in 
three  days,  the  fishermen  came  back  in  large  numbers 
and  began  fishing  off  the  sea  face  of  the  breakwater, 
where  the  loose  stone  foundation,  or  riprap,  attracted 
the  fish  in  large  numbers.  I  had  given  notice  that  I 
would  pay  a  small  sum  for  an  octopus,  the  larger  the 
better,  as  I  thought  I  might  be  able  to  keep  it  alive 
until  I  could  send  it  to  Philadelphia.  A  few  days 
after  the  gale  I  heard  great  shouting  on  the  break 
water,  and  one  of  the  men  came  to  me  with  the  in 
formation  that  my  octopus  was  caught,  or  rather  he 
had  caught  two  fishing  boats  and  half  a  dozen  fish 
ermen.  He  made  things  pretty  lively  for  all  hands  at 
first,  but  some  one  succeeded  in  getting  a  rope  around 
his  neck,  and  by  choking  him  nearly  to  death  we 
eventually  captured  him  and  took  him  on  board  ship. 
After  a  long  struggle  I  got  him  into  a  large  tub, 
which  he  filled  to  the  top,  and  where  he  seemed  satis 
fied.  When  the  tub  was  suddenly  flooded  he  would 
instantly  dye  the  water  as  black  as  ink  and  so  hide 
himself.  I  found,  to  my  regret,  that  the  rope  about 
his  neck  had  fatally  injured  him,  and  he  died  after  I 
had  observed  him  for  three  or  four  days.  His  ten 
tacles  were  as  large  as  a  man's  arm  and  ten  or  twelve 

207 


A  Sailor's  Log 

feet  long.  Each  one  was  covered  on  the  lower  side 
with  suckers,  ranging  in  size  from  the  body,  where  they 
were  as  large  as  a  silver  dollar,  to  the  end  of  the  ten 
tacle,  where  they  were  smaller  than  a  ten-cent  piece. 
After  he  was  apparently  dead,  if  I  struck  my  fingers 
quickly  across  one  of  the  suckers,  it  would  catch  me 
every  time.  When  he  was  alive  and  free  to  move  in 
the  water  he  could  have  drowned  a  man,  or  indeed  sev 
eral  men  at  the  same  time,  in  a  very  few  minutes.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  later  that  the  small  octopus  was 
largely  used  for  food. 

When  our  repairs  had  been  completed  we  returned 
to  our  winter  quarters  at  Nice.  Here  we  prepared  to 
spend  the  winter  much  as  we  had  spent  the  last  one, 
but  the  Navy  Department  had  other  work  for  us,  and 
late  in  November  orders  came  for  us  to  proceed,  with 
out  delay,  to  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  and  report 
our  arrival.  A  few  days  only  were  necessary  for  our 
preparations  and  we  were  off,  leaving  a  forlorn  lot  of 
women  bravely  waving  farewells  from  the  docks.  Our 
captain  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  allowed  to  bring 
the  ladies  of  his  family  home  with  him  in  the  Con 
gress,  but  the  bitter  attacks  of  certain  newspapers  had 
had  their  effect,  and  the  day  of  the  "  family  ships  " 
was  over  for  all  time  in  our  service.  The  station  at 
Ville  Franche  was  also  broken  up,  and  the  ships  sent 
cruising  in  various  directions. 

As  we  ran  down  to  Gibraltar  for  our  final  coaling 
the  Gulf  of  Lyons  took  a  last  shot  at  us  in  the  shape 
of  a  gale  of  wind,  which  blew  viciously  for  two  days 
and  then  let  go.  When  it  was  over  we  drank  cham 
pagne  as  well  as  water  out  of  teacups,  for  we  had 

208 


A   Ghost  Aloft 

rolled  pretty  much  everything  loose,  and  broke  all  the 
crockery  the  mess  owned.  Two  days  were  spent  in 
coaling  at  Gibraltar,  and  I  said  good-bye  to  the 
Mediterranean  for  some  years  to  come.  We  left  many 
good  friends  behind  us,  and  everywhere  a  record  that 
was  a  credit  to  the  country  we  had  tried  our  best  to 
properly  represent. 

On  the  run  to  Madeira  the  superstitious  feelings 
of  our  men,  and  indeed  some  of  the  officers,  were 
much  excited  by  a  curious  incident.  We  were  under 
sail  and  the  moon  shining  brightly,  when,  for  some 
reason,  it  became  necessary  to  shorten  sail.  When 
the  topgallant  sails  were  clewed  up  there  stood 
a  man  on  the  fore-topgallant  yard  clearly  outlined 
against  the  flapping  canvas  of  the  fore  royal.  The 
officer  of  the  deck  hailed  the  officer  of  the  forecastle 
to  know  what  that  man  was  doing  aloft,  and  was 
assured  in  reply  that  the  men  were  all  on  deck.  But 
there  stood  the  man  in  plain  sight  in  the  moonlight. 
The  officer  then  hailed  him,  but  could  get  no  answer. 
Finally  he  sent  a  man  aloft  to  tell  the  chap,  whoever 
he  was,  to  come  down  at  once  and  report  on  the  quar 
ter-deck.  All  hands  were  by  this  time  much  excited, 
and  waited  anxiously  to  see  what  would  happen.  Just 
as  the  man  who  had  been  sent  from  the  deck  reached 
the  foretop,  the  figure  on  the  yard  disappeared,  as  if 
he  had  fallen  overboard.  The  watch  was  mustered 
and  all  hands  were  found  to  be  present.  After  this 
sleep  was  out  of  the  question;  the  men  stood  about 
in  groups,  watching  the  fore-topgallant  yard,  waiting 
to  see  the  figure  reappear,  many  of  them  too  fright 
ened  to  reason,  and  all  of  them  expecting  some  awful 

209 


A  Sailor's  Log 

disaster  to  befall  the  ship.  On  the  following  night, 
when  the  moon  was  about  in  the  same  relative  posi 
tion  to  the  ship,  the  sails  were  again  clewed  up,  and 
after  changing  the  course  slowly  a  few  times,  there 
was  the  man  again  standing  in  the  same  position  on 
the  yard.  The  mystery  was  solved:  a  shadow  from 
some  of  the  canvas  on  the  mainmast  was  responsible 
for  the  ghost. 

Another  of  our  ships  had  had  a  very  curious  ghost 
experience  while  cruising  in  the  Mediterranean,  which 
is  well  worth  recording.  At  about  midnight,  when 
over  a  hundred  miles  from  land  and  while  everything 
was  perfectly  quiet  about  the  deck,  the  sound  of  a 
tolling  bell  was  distinctly  heard.  It  could  be  plainly 
heard  by  the  officer  of  the  deck  as  well  as  the  men, 
and  it  continued  for  several  minutes.  To  the  crew  it 
sounded  like  a  funeral  bell,  and  they  decided  that  some 
one  was  going  to  die.  With  much  difficulty  the  men 
were  finally  sent  to  their  hammocks  and  ordered  to 
keep  silence.  The  next  morning  the  story  was  all 
over  the  ship,  from  the  forecastle  to  the  officers' 
messes.  When  night  came  again  many  had  forgotten 
the  incident,  but  at  about  the  same  hour  the  tolling  of 
the  bell  was  again  distinctly  heard,  and  the  whole 
crew  gathered  on  deck  to  listen  in  superstitious  si 
lence.  The  officers  were  much  puzzled,  and  many 
theories  were  advanced  to  account  for  the  strange  and 
Vinusual  noise.  The  third  night  found  captain  and  all 
hands,  officers  and  men,  on  deck,  determined  if  pos 
sible  to  find  a  solution  of  the  mystery.  At  the  proper 
time  the  sound  of  the  bell  came  clear  and  distinct,  toll 
ing  as  if  for  a  funeral.  The  captain  and  several  of  the 

210 


An    Ineffective   Fleet 

officers  then  began  a  careful  investigation,  which  soon 
cleared  the  matter  up.  The  galley  of  the  ship,  where 
the  cooking  was  done,  was  under  the  topgallant  fore 
castle,  about  twenty  feet  from  the  ship's  bell.  The 
fires  in  the  galley  were  put  out  at  nine  o'clock,  and  it 
was  found  that  at  a  certain  point  in  the  process  of 
cooling  the  contracting  of  the  metal  in  the  galley 
made  it  give  out  a  cracking  noise  which  accorded 
with  certain  tones  in  the  bell  and  caused  it  to  ring. 
The  very  puzzling  ghost  story  was  solved,  and  the 
men  went  to  their  hammocks,  many  of  them  still  shak 
ing  their  heads  and  predicting  that  there  was  trouble 
in  store  for  somebody. 

From  Madeira  we  literally  rolled  our  way  across  the 
Atlantic.  After  coaling  at  St.  Thomas,  we  reached  Port 
Royal,  where  we  found  a  few  old  monitors  and  one  or 
two  small  vessels,  all  in  ignorance  of  the  reasons  for 
assembling  a  fleet  at  that  point,  the  orders  for  which 
had  been  issued.  Captain  English  was  to  be  the  senior 
officer  for  a  time,  and  it  turned  out  later  that  we  were 
assembled  for  the  purpose  of  drilling  the  men.  It  was 
recognised  on  all  hands  that  our  ships  were  rapidly 
deteriorating,  and  Congress  did  not  seem  disposed  to 
give  us  any  new  ones.  It  was  the  beginning  of  that 
long  period  of  neglect  of  the  navy  by  Congress  that 
made  officers'  hearts  ache.  All  we  could  do  was  to 
keep  the  men  in  good  shape,  which  we  certainly  did, 
and  hope  that  a  change  would  come  to  our  rulers. 

Admiral  LeRoy  arrived  in  February,  and  took 
command  of  the  squadron,  which  consisted  at  that 
time'  of  ten  or  twelve  ships.  We  had  been  drilling 
steadily  all  the  time,  but  now  the  work  was  vastly 

211 


A  Sailor's  Log 

increased.  Owing  to  the  length  of  time  we  had  been 
in  commission  and  the  careful  training  the  men  had 
received,  we  easily  led  all  the  ships  except  the 
Brooklyn.  She  had  been  flagship  of  the  Brazil  squad 
ron,  and  showed  the  effect  of  careful,  painstaking 
work.  It  required  our  best  efforts  to  keep  even  with 
her.  There  was  much  talk  of  a  racing  cutter  she  car 
ried  that  had  beaten  everything  in  the  South,  and  when 
she  challenged  us  for  a  five-mile  race  our  chances  of 
winning  were  considered  very  poor.  Our  crew  was  in 
excellent  shape,  but  our  boat  was  not  as  good  as  the 
Brooklyn's,  which  did  not  prevent  our  men  from  bet 
ting  all  the  money  they  had  on  the  result.  When  the 
stakeboat  was  reached,  our  boat  was  just  two  lengths 
behind,  a  part  of  which  they  made  up  on  the  turn;  and 
in  the  pull  in,  two  miles  and  a  half  against  a  strong 
tide  and  stiff  wind,  they  passed  the  Brooklyn's  boat 
and  won  at  the  finish  by  forty-nine  seconds.  It  was 
one  of  the  hardest  races  I  ever  saw  pulled,  and  con 
dition  told,  as  it  always  will,  in  such  a  contest. 


212 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   CENTENNIAL   AND   TRAINING-SHIP   DUTY 

As  the  result  of  an  inspection  held  at  Port  Royal 
by  one  of  the  bureau  chiefs  of  the  Navy  Department, 
the  Congress  was  selected  to  represent  the  navy  at 
Philadelphia  during  the  Centennial,  and  we  found  our 
selves  moored  off  the  foot  of  Arch  Street  early  in  May. 

The  part  played  by  the  Congress  in  the  Centennial 
of  1876  was  most  creditable  to  the  navy,  and  very  ex 
pensive,  though  gratifying,  to  her  officers.  She  repre 
sented  the  navy,  and  was  seen  and  admired  by  thou 
sands  of  Americans  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
opening  day  I  landed  in  command  of  the  crew,  who, 
with  a  detachment  of  marines,  were  the  only  United 
States  forces  in  the  parade,  and  therefore  held  the 
right  of  the  line.  After  marching  fifteen  miles,  much 
of  the  way  in  mud  halfway  to  our  knees,  we  were 
placed  in  position  to  receive  the  President  and  his 
party  when  they  had  formally  opened  the  Exposition. 
I  waited  in  the  broiling  sun  nearly  two  hours  after  the 
time  set,  when  I  was  informed  that  the  crowd  had 
walked  over  the  militia  and  surrounded  the  President, 
so  that  it  was  not  possible  to  move  him.  I  marched 
my  men  through  the  crowd,  extricated  the  Boston 
cadets  from  a  very  unpleasant  position,  where  they 
15  213 


A  Sailor's  Log 

had  been  placed  to  do  police  duty — to  which  they 
should  never  have  been  assigned  since  they  were  visi 
tors — and  soon  had  things  moving  again.  After  one 
of  the  hardest  days  I  ever  knew  we  returned  to  the 
ship,  and  without  a  single  man  straggling  or  showing 
the  effect  of  drink,  and  all  because  they  had  pride  in 
their  ship  and  their  service. 

We  remained  at  Philadelphia  until  late  in  July, 
when  we  were  ordered  to  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  to  pay  off  and  go  out  of  commission.  Before 
sailing,  however,  the  Board  of  Inspection  put  us 
through  our  paces,  and  the  following  letter  shows  how 
well  we  performed.  It  was  written  to  Admiral  Porter, 
and  signed  by  Commodore  John  Guest,  senior  officer 
of  the  board: 

14  PHILADELPHIA,  July  8,  1876. 

"  SIR:  The  board  has  inspected  the  U.  S.  S.  Con 
gress  this  day. 

"  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  she  is  in  good  order 
in  all  her  departments  and  an  efficient  man-of-war. 
The  whole  organization  and  condition  is  as  near  per 
fection  as  our  system  will  admit.  She  is  admirable. 

"  To  Captain  Earl  English  and  his  executive  offi 
cer,  Lieutenant-Commander  R.  D.  Evans,  great  praise 
is  due  for  the  handsome  and  creditable  specimen  of 
the  American  navy  which  they  have  exhibited  here 
at  this  Centennial  period.  The  board  has  taken  great 
pride  and  pleasure  in  observing  the  condition  of  this 
ship." 

This  letter  was  in  addition  to  the  regular  inspec 
tion  report,  which  did  not  contain  a  single  unsatis- 

214 


Long-Distance   Signalling 

factory  answer  in  the  long  list  of  questions.  I  men 
tion  this  as  a  tribute  to  the  officers  and  men  who  made 
up  the  splendid  crew  of  the  Congress. 

When  we  reached  Portsmouth  and  were  ready  to 
haul  down  the  flag  over  what  had  been  such  a  happy 
home  to  us  all,  I  was  shocked  at  the  number  of 
boarding-house  sharks  that  flocked  about  the  ship, 
ready  to  relieve  the  men  of  all  their  belongings.  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  "  do  "  those  same  sharks,  if  I 
could;  and  I  did.  I  arranged  for  a  special  train  to 
run  through  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  which 
backed  into  the  navy  yard,  and  when  the  pennant 
came  down  the  whole  crew,  with  their  bags  and  ham 
mocks,  marched  into  it  instead  of  the  boats  which 
were  waiting  to  land  them  in  the  rum  mills.  I  went 
through  on  the  train  myself,  and  when  I  saw  the  men 
land  clean  and  sober  near  their  homes  it  gave  me  a 
very  lasting  thrill  of  pleasure. 

After  the  Congress  I  enjoyed  two  months'  leave, 
getting  acquainted  with  my  family  again.  I  was  then 
ordered  to  signal  duty  in  the  Navy  Department  in 
Washington,  where,  with  the  able  assistance  of  Lieu 
tenant  Maxwell  Wood,  I  developed  and  patented  a 
signal  lamp  for  long-distance  signalling,  which  per 
formed  its  functions  very  satisfactorily.  When  winter 
came,  however,  I  found  myself  looking  about  for  a 
ship,  and,  owing  to  the  good  reports  about  the  Con 
gress,  I  was  ordered  to  command  the  training-ship 
Saratoga,  one  of  the  old  sailing  sloops  of  war.  She 
had  been  lying  in  reserve  as  a  gunnery  ship  at  An 
napolis,  and  required  a  complete  overhauling  and  re 
fitting,  which  we  gave  her  at  the  Washington  yard. 

215 


A  Sailor's  Log 

In  the  spring  I  sailed  in  her,  and  for  four  years  com 
manded  her,  doing  the  pleasantest  duty  that  has  fallen 
to  me  in  peace  times  during  my  naval  career. 

My  duty  was  to  enlist  American-born  boys  be 
tween  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  eighteen  years,  and  drill 
and  educate  them  for  the  naval  service — not  to  serve 
as  officers,  but  as  enlisted  men,  to  man  the  ships  and 
fight  the  guns.  The  first  crew  I  enlisted  came  from 
the  section  of  country  about  Washington  and  Balti 
more,  and  a  fine,  hardy  lot  they  were.  The  pleasure 
of  watching  them  grow  up  and  develop  into  strong, 
self-supporting  men  was  very  great.  One  unforeseen 
trouble  met  me  from  the  start.  I  could  not  hold  the 
boys  back.  They  would  learn  more  than  was  required 
of  the  ordinary  deck  hand,  and  during  the  first  year 
of  my  command  I  placed  quite  a  dozen  of  them  on 
merchant  vessels  as  mates.  I  finally  concluded  that  I 
had  gone  too  high  in  the  social  scale  for  the  material 
to  start  with,  and,  though  I  was  doing  a  splendid 
work,  I  was  not  getting  the  men  we  wanted.  Then  I 
tried  what  is  called  the  "  gutter  snipe,"  and  there  I 
found  just  what  I  was  looking  for.  When  caught  at 
the  right  age,  and  then  properly  educated  and  treated, 
the  boy  of  this  class  made  his  home  in  the  navy,  and 
was  willing  to  spend  his  life  there. 

During  my  four  years  in  command  of  the  Saratoga 
I  had  many  interesting  experiences.  I  enlisted  boys 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  necessarily  saw  the 
conditions  surrounding  the  lives  of  the  poorer  classes 
in  many  different  cities.  After  one  trip  to  Boston, 
where  I  enlisted  several  hundred  boys,  I  was  satisfied 
that  education,  or  rather  over-education,  was  doing 

216 


Mental    Over-training 

great  harm  in  New  England.  Book  schools  were  not 
doing  what  industrial  schools  would  have  accom 
plished.  Because  a  tailor  or  a  shoemaker  had  been 
President,  every  tailor's  and  shoemaker's  son  was  be 
ing  educated  to  fill  that  high  office,  and  the  result  was 
bad — in  many  cases  very  bad.  Over-training  of  any 
kind  is  not  good,  and  I  found  mental  over-training  the 
worst  of  all.  My  experience — and  I  had  plenty  of  it — 
was  the  same  over  and  over  again.  Each  morning 
when  I  went  to  my  office  at  the  navy-yard  gate  I 
found  a  long  line  of  fairly  well-dressed  boys  with  very 
shabbily  dressed  parents.  In  every  case  the  boy  had 
spent  his  life  at  school,  winding  up  in  many  instances  in 
the  high  school,  and  after  that  finding  nothing  to  do. 
The  parents  were  striving  hard  and  stinting  them 
selves  that  the  boys  might  appear  well  and  dress  like 
gentlemen,  while  the  lads  were  growing  more  and 
more  ashamed  of  their  surroundings  and  their  honest 
fathers  and  mothers,  who  had  been  and  are  to-day  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  this  great  republic.  To  save  them 
from  pool  rooms  and  worse,  they  begged  me  to  enlist 
them  as  apprentices  in  the  navy  and  begin  anew  their 
educations.  I  almost  had  it  in  my  heart  to  wish  that 
every  high  school  in  Boston  would  burn  to  the 
ground,  and  that  every  boy  and  every  girl  should  be 
taught  to  work  with  their  hands  and  make  a  living,  as 
their  honest  parents  had  done  before  them. 

While  commanding  the  Saratoga  I  crossed  the 
Atlantic  four  times  in  her,  each  time  with  a  crew 
composed  in  most  part  of  boys.  On  one  trip  I  ran 
a  line  of  soundings  from  Cape  Hatteras  to  Horta,  in 
the  island  of  Fayal,  and  thence  over  some  supposed 

217 


A  Sailor's  Log 

shoals  to  the  southward  of  that  island,  and  then  to 
the  coast  of  Africa.  This  duty  was  wonderfully  inter 
esting,  particularly  when,  after  two  hours'  hard  work, 
I  was  rewarded  by  holding  in  my  hand  a  specimen  of 
the  bottom,  which  had  been  hauled  up  in  some  cases 
through  over  two  miles  of  water.  The  microscope 
showed  beautiful  lacelike  shells,  which  I  afterward 
found  extended  in  a  belt  from  Petersburg,  Virginia, 
to  the  vicinity  of  the  Western  Islands,  where  they  be 
came  covered  with  volcanic  ooze.  On  this  trip  I  had 
with  me  Mr.  F.  B.  McGuire,  of  Washington,  who 
acted  as  agent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and 
made  a  large  and  very  valuable  collection  of  fishes, 
which  was  highly  valued  by  Professor  Baird  and  his  as 
sociates.  Upon  my  return  I  was  able  to  make  a  good 
report  of  work  done,  not  only  in  the  way  of  training 
boys,  but  upon  deep-sea  soundings  and  the  food  fishes 
of  the  Western  Islands. 

I  had  expected  to  have  many  accidents  among  the 
green  boys,  from  the  constant  drills  aloft  with  spars 
and  sails;  but  when  my  time  was  up  a  careful  exami 
nation  showed  that  I  had  no  fatal  accident,  and  only 
a  very  few  serious  ones.  The  rivalry  among  the  boys 
was  very  great,  and  once  I  had  the  whole  crew  bet 
ting  as  to  which  one  of  two  boys  could  beat  the  other 
over  the  royal  yard.  To  decide  the  question  I  started 
them  aloft  one  evening  just  before  sundown,  as  we 
were  fanning  along  under  full  sail  before  a  light  breeze 
on  the  edge  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  They  were  both  as 
active  as  cats,  and  went  aloft  very  rapidly,  but  one, 
in  passing  the  maintop,  unfortunately  lost  his  grip  on 
the  rigging  and  pitched  over  backward.  I  was  stand- 

218 


The   Boys'   Good   Work 

ing  on  the  deck  watching  them,  and  as  the  lad  fell,  I 
distinctly  heard  his  head  strike  the  projecting  muzzle 
of  a  gun,  and  I  supposed  he  was  instantly  killed. 
One  of  the  officers  whipped  off  his  coat,  and  was  in 
the  act  of  jumping  overboard  to  his  rescue  when  the 
boy  called  out  that  he  was  all  right.  In  a  few  min 
utes  he  came  up  over  the  stern,  having  caught  one 
of  the  trailing  life  lines,  and  was  apparently  none  the 
worse  for  his  ducking;  but  the  moment  he  saw  the 
blood  which  was  streaming  from  a  wound  in  his  head 
he  fainted  dead  away.  His  scalp  was  pretty  well  torn 
from  one  side  of  his  head,  but  in  a  few  days  he  was 
running  aloft  again  as  smartly  as  ever. 

On  one  of  my  trips  I  ran  up  the  Mediterranean 
as  far  as  Naples,  and  on  my  way  back  fell  in  with  the 
English  fleet,  commanded  by  Admiral  Sir  Beauchamp 
Seymour,  who  afterward  bombarded  Alexandria.  We 
were  all  anchored  together  for  ten  days  at  Ville 
Franche,  and  my  sailing  ship  was  closely  watched  by 
the  captains  of  the  splendid  ironclads.  The  work  of 
my  boys  pleased  them  greatly,  and  the  admiral  paid 
us  many  compliments  on  the  smartness  of  our  drills. 
Captain  George  Tryon  commanded  the  Monarch,  and 
he  and  I  had  so  much  in  common  over  our  shooting 
and  fishing  yarns  that  we  formed  a  friendship  which 
continued  until  he  found  his  grave  in  the  unfortunate 
Victoria.  I  always  regarded  him  as  one  of  the  best 
of  our  cloth,  and  a  great  credit  to  the  British  navy. 
In  the  same  fleet  was  a  jolly  young  lieutenant,  Hed- 
with  Lambton,  who  afterward  performed  such  gallant 
service  in  South  Africa.  I  knew  him  again  in  Chili 
when  I  commanded  the  Yorktown  and  he  the  War- 

219 


A  Sailor's  Log 

spite.  Our  acquaintance  ripened  into  a  warm  friend 
ship,  which  I  value  very  highly.  Among  other  com 
manding  officers  of  Admiral  Seymour's  fleet  I  was 
glad  to  meet  Captain  Freemantle,  of  the  Invincible, 
who  had  recently  performed  an  act  that  did  him 
great  credit.  He  was  on  the  bridge  of  his  ship  when 
one  of  his  men  fell  from  aloft  and  struck  the  water 
with  such  force  that  he  was  disabled  and  rapidly  sink 
ing.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  and  with  all  his 
clothing  on,  the  captain  sprang  into  the  sea,  made  a 
long  dive,  brought  the  disabled  man  to  the  surface, 
and  saved  his  life. 

My  pleasure  was  much  enhanced  during  my  last 
cruise  in  the  Saratoga  by  having  on  board,  as  my 
guests,  three  officers  of  our  army,  Colonel  Warner  and 
Majors  Randolph  and  Taylor,  of  the  artillery.  They 
saw  much  to  interest  them  in  the  various  ports  we 
visited,  and  were  lavishly  entertained  at  the  different 
garrisoned  towns.  The  following  extract  from  my 
journal  will  give  an  idea  of  what  our  life  was  in  port: 

"  Of  course,  beating  a  sailing  ship  through  the 
straits  is  no  fun,  and  even  dangerous  at  night,  owing 
to  the  number  of  steamers  running  through,  and  the 
danger  of  collision;  but  we  had  a  fair  night,  and  of 
course  I  had  to  be  on  deck  all  the  time.  As  I  had  not 
had  my  clothes  off  since  four  o'clock  Monday  morning, 
I  required  numerous  cups  of  coffee  to  keep  my  eyes 
open. 

"  Mr.  Sprague,  the  consul,  came  on  board  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  at  noon  we  all  started  in  full  feather  to 
call  on  the  officials.  We  found  Lord  Napier  of  Mag- 
dala  most  polite  and  agreeable  and  thoroughly  in- 

220 


English    Hospitality 

terested  in  America,  and  a  great  Grant  man.  After 
our  call  on  him,  we  paid  our  respects  to  the  naval  au 
thorities  and  the  officers  of  one  of  the  regiments,  and 
when  we  came  home  found  an  invitation  from  the  con 
sul  to  dine  with  him;  also  a  notice  that  an  English 
officer  would  show  us  through  all  the  galleries  at  10 
A.  M.  to-morrow.  While  we  were  at  dinner  two  cards 
came  from  Lord  and  Lady  Napier  of  Magdala,  one 
for  an  '  At  Home '  for  to-day,  the  other  a  formal  invi 
tation  for  dinner  on  Thursday.  We  also  had  an  in 
vitation  from  the  mess  of  the  Forty-sixth  Regiment 
for  Friday,  all  of  which  we  have  accepted.  We  have 
our  hands  full. 

"  Gibraltar,  I2th  June. — Wednesday  we  had  a  de 
lightful  dinner  with  the  consul,  after  having  visited 
all  the  galleries  and  the  signal  station  on  the  top  of 
the  rock. 

"  Thursday  we  dined  with  Lord  and  Lady  Napier. 
No  end  of  style.  The  ladies  were  all  charming,  after 
the  fashion  of  English  women.  The  gentlemen  left 
the  table  with  the  ladies,  and  did  not  return  to  their 
wine,  which  is  a  new  fashion  brought  here  by  Lord 
Napier  from  India.  It  has  many  good  points,  I  think, 
but  the  English  do  not  fancy  it  much. 

"  Yesterday  we  went  through  the  town,  made  some 
purchases,  and  in  the  evening  dined  with  the  Forty- 
sixth  Regiment — and  a  most  delightful  dinner  we  had — 
returning  to  the  ship  at  midnight.  I  like  the  way  these 
English  regiments  hold  on  to  their  traditions.  The 
Forty-sixth  during  our  War  for  Independence  were  in 
America,  and  on  account  of  some  bad  conduct  of  their 
men  our  general  issued  an  order  that  no  quarter 

221 


A  Sailor's  Log 

should  be  shown  them;  that  any  one  of  them  caught 
should  be  at  once  executed.  The  colonel  of  the  Forty- 
sixth  thereupon  had  a  red  pompon  placed  in  the  hats 
of  his  officers  and  men  as  a  part  of  their  uniform,  and 
sent  word  to  our  man  that  they  were  the  only  people 
in  the  British  service  who  wore  the  red  pompon,  and 
he  could  with  safety  execute  any  one  found  with  it 
on.  The  pompon  can  be  seen  in  the  crest  of  the  regi 
ment,  and  they  are  having  just  now  a  bitter  fight  about 
it.  When  the  Forty-sixth  came  here,  Lord  Napier 
noticed  the  red  on  their  hats  and  could  find  no  order 
permitting  it,  so  he  directed  its  removal;  but  the  colo 
nel  and  officers  have  petitioned  the  Queen  to  allow 
them  to  use  it.  After  dinner  they  showed  us  the  Bible 
on  which  General  Washington  was  made  a  Mason. 
One  of  our  army  officers  offered  a  thousand  guineas 
for  it,  but  the  colonel  replied  that  they  had  already 
refused  forty  thousand  dollars  for  it.  It  was  once  cap 
tured  by  our  people  and  returned  to  the  regiment;  and 
the  French  got  it  twice,  but  each  time  sent  it  back. 

"  Sunday,  p.  M. — We  have  been  up  to  our  eyes  in 
Englishmen.  Yesterday  morning  we  were  engaged  to 
breakfast  with  the  Forty-sixth.  Our  breakfast  was  an 
entire  success,  and  when  we  went  to  the  range  our 
friends  of  the  Forty-sixth  met  with  a  most  crushing 
defeat.  After  we  had  beat  them  with  our  own  gun 
we  took  theirs — the  Martini-Henry — and  beat  their 
best  score.  About  four  in  the  afternoon  Colonel  Ben 
nett  turned  out  his  regiment  and  gave  us  a  drill  which 
was  beautiful  to  see.  We  got  back  at  seven  and 
dressed  for  a  dinner  at  the  engineers'  mess,  for  which 
we  had  accepted  an  invitation.  We  had  a  beautiful 

222 


A   Big   Gun 

dinner,  and  got  on  board  at  midnight.  I  had  intended 
going  to  sea  to-day,  but  when  we  got  on  board  found 
a  note  from  Lord  Napier,  saying  that  he  had  ordered  a 
target  put  out,  and  would  have  the  thirty-eight-ton 
gun  fired  for  us  Monday  afternoon.  As  each  shot 
costs  fifty  guineas  ( !),  of  course  we  had  to  stay,  and  so 
shall  not  get  away  until  Tuesday.  I  was  shocked  on 
our  arrival  here  to  get  a  telegram  saying  that  Zeilin 
had  been  killed.  Poor  Billy!  He  must  have  been 
thrown  from  his  horse.  Before  we  left  home  he  had 
been  riding  in  a  very  desperate  sort  of  way,  and  his 
friends  had  predicted  that  he  would  come  to  grief. 
Now  I  must  get  to  bed  and  try  to  make  up  the  lost 
sleep  of  the  last  three  nights. 

"  At  Sea.  Off  Cape  de  Gatte,  i8th  June.— We  man 
aged  to  get  away  from  Gibraltar  Tuesday  morning, 
and  I  flatter  myself  we  did  it  handsomely — much  bet 
ter  than  our  New  York  affair,  of  which  so  much  was 
said.  The  night  before  we  left  we  had  an  awful 
*  ranky '  dinner  with  the  artillery,  which  was  very  en 
joyable.  We  had  much  scientific  talk,  but  managed 
to  pull  through. 

"  Tuesday  afternoon  Lord  and  Lady  Napier  and  all 
the  swells  turned  out  to  see  the  thirty-eight-ton  gun 
fired,  and  it  was  evident  from  the  first  that  we  were 
to  be  immensely  impressed.  After  the  gun  had  been 
cast  loose  and  run  into  battery,  we  were  shown  how 
easily  it  would  work,  and  with  what  perfect  accuracy  it 
could  be  controlled.  Just  as  the  colonel  in  charge  was 
telling  me  this,  the  monster  got  away  from  them,  and 
out  it  went  with  a  bang  that  almost  upset  the  carriage ! 
Of  course,  all  hands  caught  the  mischief,  though  it  was 

223 


A  Sailor's  Log 

simply  due  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  complicated 
machinery.  It  took  over  ten  minutes  to  load  the  gun, 
and  when  it  was  fired  at  a  target,  about  a  mile  away, 
the  shot  struck  seventy  yards  short  and  bounded 
heavenward.  When  it  was  loaded  the  second  time  and 
all  ready,  the  order  was  given  to  fire,  but  the  primer 
failed,  and  they  continued  to  fail  for  four  or  five  min 
utes,  when,  by  pouring  powder  into  the  vent,  they 
managed  to  get  it  off.  This  shot  struck  fifty  yards 
over.  The  third  and  last  shot  stuck  in  the  gun,  so  that 
it  took  some  fifteen  minutes  to  load  it,  and  when  it 
was  fired  the  projectile  went  one  hundred  and  twenty 
yards  wide  of  the  target.  Lord  Napier  was  awfully 
disgusted,  as  well  he  might  be,  and  we  were  not  in  the 
least  bit  impressed  or  frightened." 

We  made  a  new  record  for  sailing  vessels  from 
Gibraltar  to  Naples,  and  I  was  much  gratified  at  the 
comments  of  the  Italian  officers  when  we  entered  the 
latter  port.  We  ran  in  under  all  sail  and  picked  up 
our  buoy  without  lowering  a  boat,  and  then  furled 
everything  very  smartly,  which,  in  that  day  of  mastless 
ironclads,  attracted  much  attention. 

After  several  weeks  of  interesting  cruising  I 
reached  Villefranche,  where  I  found  that  I  had  not 
been  forgotten.  The  following  from  my  journal  shows 
that  my  kindness  to  the  poor,  when  executive  officer 
of  the  Congress,  had  made  a  lasting  impression: 

"  Villefranche  Sur  Mer,  ifth  July. — Night  before 
last  I  was,  as  I  had  expected  to  be,  up  all  night.  In 
the  morning  at  daylight  we  were  in  the  mouth  of  the 
harbour,  but  not  a  breath  of  air;  so  we  hoisted  out  the 
boats  and  towed  her  in.  The  place  looked  as  natu- 

224 


A  Boar  Hunt 

ral  as  possible,  but  I  missed  the  face  of  the  old  pilot, 
who  used  always  to  get  thirty  francs  when  one  of  our 
ships  came  in.  The  same  old  one-gun  battery  returned 
our  salute,  taking  about  half  an  hour  to  do  it.  As 
soon  as  we  were  anchored  I  sent  for  the  mail,  and  be 
fore  long  my  old  friends  began  to  pour  in.  First  came 
the  bumboat  people,  and  then  the  washerwomen.  I 
could  not  remember  the  name  of  one  of  them,  and 
was  really  ashamed  when  they  all  knew  me  and  were 
so  glad  to  see  me,  and  asked  after  my  children.  I 
suppose  a  dozen  or  more  of  them  had  interviewed  me, 
when  Carolina  (my  former  cook)  came  and  wanted  to 
cry  at  sight  of  me,  but  I  talked  too  fast  for  her.  The 
poor  soul  has  had  great  trouble,  and  her  husband  has 
deserted  her,  leaving  her  with  three  children  to  sup 
port.  I  sent  for  my  steward,  and  gave  orders  that  she 
should  have  plenty  for  them  all  to  eat  while  we  remain 
here.  Carolina  had  not  gone,  when  Antionetta  Allan 
came  rushing  at  me  past  the  orderly,  who  had  by  this 
time  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  no  use  trying  to 
stop  them.  Antionetta  is  fat  and  lovely,  and  was  dis 
posed  to  kiss  me,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes  asked 
after  my  wife  and  children.  Then  came  Angelica  in 
the  same  way,  and  I  don't  know  how  many  more,  all 
asking  after  my  family." 

On  one  of  my  trips  to  Tangier  my  old  friend 
Colonel  Mathews  arranged  a  wild-boar  hunt  for  me, 
which  I  enjoyed  very  much  when  it  was  over.  After 
riding  on  horseback  about  fifteen  miles  over  a  very 
rough  country  we  came  to  the  jungle  where  the  first 
drive  was  to  be  made.  A  tribe  of  Moors,  under  their 
venerable  old  chief,  were  to  do  the  driving,  and  I  was 

225 


A  Sailor's  Log 

to  do  the  shooting.  The  chief  inspected  my  gun,  a 
Hotchkiss  magazine  service  rifle,  and  suggested  that 
I  take  a  double-barrelled  shotgun  and  load  it  with 
balls;  but  I  preferred  to  work  with  the  tool  I  had 
selected,  with  which  I  was  familiar.  He  explained 
to  me  that  the  cover  was  very  thick  where  I  was 
going  to  shoot,  and  that  the  pig  would  be  close  to 
me  before  I  saw  him;  and  that  I  would  only  have 
time  for  two  quick  shots  before  he  charged  and  was 
on  top  of  me.  I  was  not  over  weU  pleased  with  this 
description  of  what  I  had  to  face,  but  decided  that  I 
would  kill  with  my  magazine  rifle  or  let  the  pig  go. 
I  had  not  the  least  intention  that  he  should  get  me. 
When  we  had  penetrated  the  jungle  half  a  mile  or 
more  we  found  a  well-beaten  pig-track,  and,  selecting 
a  favourable  point,  I  took  my  station.  The  chief  ex 
plained  that  I  would  first  hear  the  dogs,  of  which  they 
had  a  large  number,  give  tongue;  then  I  would  hear 
the  men  shouting  as  they  drove  the  pig  in  my  direc 
tion;  and,  finally,  when  sure  that  he  was  coming  to 
me,  they  would  fire  blank  cartridges  in  their  guns  to 
keep  him  moving.  The  old  man  took  his  departure 
and  left  me  alone  with  my  gun.  I  looked  about  me 
for  a  convenient  tree  up  which  I  might  climb  in  case 
of  necessity,  and  having  found  one  a  few  yards  from 
my  station,  felt  decidedly  more  comfortable.  Then  I 
waited  while  the  flies  buzzed  about  my  head  and  the 
mosquitoes  stung  me  wherever  my  skin  was  exposed. 
I  was  almost  on  the  point  of  giving  up  the  job  when  I 
heard  the  far-away  barking  of  a  dog,  and  then  a  dozen 
or  more  joined  in,  and  the  sound  came  rapidly  my 
way.  I  examined  the  gun  to  make  sure  that  it  was 

226 


A  Jackal  Shot 

ready,  and  while  doing  so  found  that  my  hands  were 
shaking  just  the  least  bit.  However,  I  was  out  for 
pigs,  and  it  sounded  as  if  a  whole  drove  were  coming 
my  way,  and  I  must  have  one  at  least.  The  baying 
of  the  dogs  was  now  mixed  with  the  shouting  of  the 
Moors,  and  in  a  few  seconds  I  heard  the  guns  begin. 
About  thirty  yards  from  where  I  was  standing,  and 
in  the  direction  of  the  dogs,  there  was  a  slight  rise  in 
the  ground,  and  while  I  was  intently  watching  for  the 
pig  I  saw  his  head  come  above  the  weeds  and  grass 
on  this  rise.  He  stopped  for  a  moment,  and,  with  his 
head  partly  turned  from  me,  was  apparently  trying  to 
judge  the  direction  in  which  the  beaters  were  coming. 
I  considered  him  quite  close  enough  for  comfort,  and, 
throwing  the  gun  to  my  shoulder,  fired  at  a  point 
about  where  I  supposed  the  point  of  his  shoulder-blade 
to  be.  Then  I  stepped  nearer  my  tree  and,  with  the 
second  cartridge  ready  to  fire,  waited  to  see  what 
would  happen.  Everything  was  quiet  where  the  pig 
had  been  for  a  few  minutes,  then  the  dogs  and  men 
were  upon  us. 

When  I  found  there  were  no  pigs  coming,  I  walked 
out  and  met  the  chief,  and  showed  him  about  where 
one  had  been  when  I  fired  at  him.  On  approaching 
the  spot,  there  he  was,  sure  enough,  and  as  dead  as  a 
herring.  He  was  a  vicious-looking  beast,  with  tusks 
seven  inches  long,  and  weighed  over  five  hundred 
pounds.  At  close  quarters  he  would  have  used  a  man 
up  in  very  short  order.  A  second  drive  was  decided 
on,  and  this  time  I  fired  at  something  I  saw  moving 
in  the  bushes  and  killed  a  jackal,  which  pleased  the 
Moors  better  than  the  killing  of  the  pig,  as  this  animal 

227 


A  Sailor's  Log 

destroyed  many  of  their  sheep.  Before  I  left  Tangiers 
I  secured  a  young  wild  pig,  which  became  a  great  pet 
on  board  ship.  She  finally  came  to  an  untimely  end 
from  eating  too  many  live-oak  acorns  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe.  Like  all  pigs  on  board  ship,  male  or  female,  she 
was  named  "  Dennis,"  and  soon  learned  to  chew  to 
bacco  and  drink  strong  hot  coffee. 

On  the  way  home  I  stopped  at  Madeira,  and  then, 
taking  the  trades,  ran  to  Fortress  Monroe  in  twenty- 
six  days.  After  transferring  my  crew  of  boys  to  ships 
in  service,  I  proceeded  to  Baltimore,  moored  to  the 
dock,  and  prepared  to  ship  another  crew  of  green 
lads  and  be  ready  to  take  them  to  sea  in  the  spring. 
My  time  was  up,  however,  and  I  could  not  object  to 
my  detachment,  which  came  in  the  early  winter.  I 
had  been  in  command  four  years,  and  had  thoroughly 
enjoyed  the  work,  which  was  of  vast  importance  to 
the  country  and  the  service,  and  to  me  personally  most 
attractive  and  interesting.  Most  of  the  boys  who 
came  under  my  care  have  advanced  to  warrant  or 
petty  officers.  Those  who  left  the  service  have  good 
positions  on  shore;  scarcely  a  week  passes  that  I  do 
not  meet  some  of  them,  and  they  are  always  glad 
to  speak  to  me  and  say  a  good  word  for  the  old  ship. 
When  war  comes,  they  all  flock  back  to  us  and  do 
most  excellent  service.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  for 
the  country  if  we  had  twenty  Saratogas  always  in 
commission,  making  better  men  of  those  who  sail  in 
them,  whether  they  follow  the  sea  or  find  their  places 
on  the  land. 


228 


CHAPTER    XIX 

METALLURGY    AND    LIGHTHOUSES 

FROM  the  Saratoga  I  was  transferred  at  once  to 
the  position  of  equipment  officer  of  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard,  where  in  a  few  weeks  I  found  myself 
deeply  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  chain  cables 
for  the  navy  and  gun  forgings  for  the  ordnance.  Sea 
manship,  with  all  its  pleasures,  had  to  be  set  aside 
for  the  time,  and  hard  thought  and  work  given  to 
metallurgy.  The  change  was  very  sudden,  but  only 
what  every  officer  has  to  be  prepared  for,  and  the 
effect  was  undoubtedly  good.  We  were  on  the  edge 
of  the  experimental  period,  during  which  the  navy  was 
to  shake  off  the  mould  that  had  been  accumulating 
since  the  period  of  the  civil  war  and  once  more  occupy 
the  proud  position  it  had  held  in  former  years. 

While  I  was  busily  engaged  in  making  experiments 
on  steel  cables  and  anchors,  and  trying  to  find,  with 
a  new  fuel  (vaporized  petroleum),  a  satisfactory  means 
of  welding  steel,  Secretary  Hunt  organized  the  first 
Advisory  Board  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  navy.  The 
board  was  composed  of  able  officers  of  the  line,  en 
gineer  and  construction  corps,  and  was  presided  over 
by  Admiral  John  Rodgers,  who  was  probably  the  best- 
equipped  officer  in  the  service  for  the  position.  I 
J6  229 


A  Sailor's  Log 

was  fortunate  enough  to  be  ordered  as  a  member  of 
the  board.  We  sat  during  the  entire  summer  of  1882, 
and  our  report  was  submitted  to  the  Secretary,  who 
recommended  action  by  Congress.  This  was  the  first 
step  taken  toward  rebuilding  the  navy,  but  it  was 
many  years  before  actual  work  was  begun. 

A  short  time  after  the  board  was  organized  I  sub 
mitted  a  resolution,  to  the  effect  that  all  vessels  rec 
ommended  by  the  board  should  be  built  of  steel.  This 
precipitated  a  discussion  which  lasted  many  months 
and  caused  much  comment  both  in  and  out  of  the 
service.  I  state  the  fact  of  having  offered  the  reso 
lution  only  because  I  wish  to  assume  the  responsibility 
that  necessarily  attached  to  it.  The  line  officers,  as  a 
body,  stood  with  me,  as  did  several  of  the  engineer 
officers,  but  the  officers  of  the  construction  corps  were 
solidly  against  the  proposition,  on  the  ground  that  we 
could  not  make  the  material,  and  that  American  ship 
builders  could  not  build  steel  ships.  The  issue  was 
clearly  drawn,  and  the  discussion,  which  covered  a 
wide  field,  became  at  times  heated.  Finally,  the  Naval 
Committees  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  were 
asked  to  meet. the  board  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  to  hear  the  finish  of  this  important  matter. 
The  meeting  was  held,  and  those  favouring  steel  as 
the  material  for  all  naval  constructions  won  the  day. 
It  was  this  action  of  naval  officers  that  opened  the 
way  to  the  steel  industry  of  the  United  States,  to  out 
strip  all  its  foreign  competitors,  as  it  has  undoubtedly 
done. 

At  the  time  this  action  was  taken,  it  was  true, 
as  claimed  by  the  constructors,  that  we  could  not 

230 


Ordered  to  Baltimore 

manufacture  steel  plates  in  this  country;  but  it  was 
only  because  there  had  been  no  demand  for  them. 
Once  having  the  demand,  the  supply  followed 
promptly,  and  it  was  of  the  best  quality.  We  were 
buying  steel  gun-forgings  and  shafting  abroad  only 
because  we  demanded  them  in  such  small  quantities. 
When  we  wanted  enough  of  them  to  make  their  manu 
facture  a  paying  venture,  our  own  people  produced 
them  in  any  desired  quantity  and  of  any  specified 
quality.  I  shall  always  feel  proud  of  the  work,  small 
though  it  was,  that  I  did  in  connection  with  the  Ad 
visory  Board  of  1882. 

When  I  had  served  less  than  two  years  as  equip 
ment  officer  of  the  Washington  yard  I  was  detached 
and  ordered  as  inspector  of  the  Fifth  Lighthouse  Dis 
trict,  with  headquarters  at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  The 
change  from  metallurgy  to  a  disbursing  officer  under 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  care  of  buoys 
and  lighthouses  was  radical,  but  it  was  a  part  of  my 
profession  and  therefore  to  be  done.  Being  a  dis 
bursing  officer  without  bond  frightened  me  somewhat 
at  first,  but  I  soon  found  that  it  was  easy  work,  re 
quiring  only  care  and  honesty.  The  duty  was  pleasant 
and  congenial,  and  kept  me  very  much  in  the  open 
air,  with  fine  opportunities  for  shooting  and  fishing, 
which  I  did  not  neglect.  My  district  extended  from 
Havre  de  Grace,  Maryland,  to  Beaufort,  North  Caro 
lina,  and  included  all  the  buoys  and  lighthouses  in  the 
navigable  waters  within  those  limits. 

The  condition  of  the  lighthouse  service  at  that 
time  was  far  from  satisfactory.  The  appointment  of 
the  keepers  was  in  political  hands,  and  though  the 


A  Sailor's  Log 

inspector  had  the  examination  of  the  men,  it  was 
practically  impossible  to  prevent  the  appointment  of 
those  who  rendered  political  service.  An  attempt  to 
do  this  was  the  cause  of  serious  trouble  to  me  long 
before  my  tour  of  duty  was  completed.  I  found  that 
the  light-keepers  were  being  assessed  a  portion  of  their 
pay  for  political  purposes,  which  was  clearly  illegal, 
and  when  I  directed  them  to  refuse  to  pay  such  assess 
ments  I  became  persona  non  grata  to  a  certain  class 
of  men  having  political  power  but  nothing  else  to 
commend  them.  They  were  quite  honest  with  me, 
however,  and  served  notice  on  me  that  unless  I 
changed  my  ways  I  would  come  to  grief,  which  I 
eventually  did. 

A  certain  fellow,  who  had  been  elected  a  delegate 
to  a  political  convention,  was  nominated  to  be  light- 
keeper  as  a  reward,  but  was  found  so  disreputable  on 
examination  that  I  refused  to  pass  him.  I  would  not 
submit  to  dictation  in  my  duties  by  a  set  of  men  quite 
as  disreputable  as  the  suggested  keeper,  and  on  this 
issue  I  was  detached  and  placed  on  waiting  orders. 
Report  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  that 
I  was  interfering  with  political  conditions  in  the  Fifth 
District,  and,  without  asking  a  word  of  explanation 
from  me,  I  was  punished  by  being  relieved  and  placed 
on  reduced  pay.  It  was,  of  course,  a  gross  injustice, 
and  caused  no  end  of  comment  in  the  newspapers; 
but  I  took  it  as  quietly  as  possible,  and  have  always 
felt  contented  that  I  was  not  personally  known  to  the 
man  who  could  so  far  degrade  the  high  office  he  held. 
The  navy  had  in  some  ways  degenerated  into  a  job 
lot,  at  least  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  used  it  for  their 

232 


On  Waiting  Orders 

own  purposes,  and  was  sometimes  let  to  a  very  low 
bidder. 

Finding  myself  on  the  beach,  as  it  were,  because  I 
would  not  take  a  hand  in  politics,  rather  than  because 
I  had  done  so,  and  knowing  that  I  would  not  have 
employment  again  during  the  time  of  the  Administra 
tion  then  in  power,  I  asked  for  leave  for  a  year,  with 
permission  to  leave  the  United  States.  In  the  ab 
sence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  the  request  was 
granted,  and  I  was  busy  making  preparations  to  en 
joy  it,  when  a  telegram  came  from  the  Secretary  re 
voking  my  leave  and  again  placing  me  on  waiting 
orders.  I  was  really  of  more  importance  than  I  had 
considered  myself,  and  I  must  be  made  to  feel  my 
punishment.  However,  I  had  felt  the  sting  of  in 
sects  before  in  my  life,  and  did  not  consider  them  of 
much  importance. 

The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company  was 
about  to  build  a  large  steel  bridge  over  the  Susque- 
hanna  River  at  Havre  de  Grace,  and  Colonel  Henry 
T.  Douglas,  the  able  chief  engineer  of  the  company, 
offered  me  a  position  as  inspector  of  material,  which 
I  was  glad  to  accept.  In  a  few  days  I  was  installed  in 
my  office  at  Pittsburg,  and  had  charge  of  the  inspec 
tion  of  all  bridge  material  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
road.  It  proved  most  congenial  work  to  me,  and 
thoroughly  occupied  all  my  time,  giving  me  an  insight 
into  the  manufacture  of  various  kinds  of  steel  and  the 
working  of  the  mills  that  was  to  prove  of  great  benefit 
to  me  personally  as  well  as  to  the  Government.  The 
bridge  in  question  was  the  first  one  in  this  country 
constructed  of  Bessemer  steel,  and  caused  much 

233 


A  Sailor's  Log 

trouble  before  it  was  finally  completed.  The  Carnegie 
firm  had  the  contract,  and  its  familiarity  with  steel  rails 
led  its  members  into  the  error  of  supposing  that  a 
bridge  could  be  built  of  the  same  sort  of  stuff.  The 
process  of  convincing  them  that  this  was  not  the  case 
caused  serious  delay  and  much  friction,  but  in  the  end 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  showed  his  admirable  qualities, 
and  carried  out  his  contract  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  con 
cerned.  The  bridge  was  completed,  and  proved  to 
be  all  that  Colonel  Douglas  claimed  for  it.  In  the 
meantime  I  had  learned,  from  hard  experience,  many 
things  about  the  manufacture  of  steels  that  I  could  not 
have  learned  in  any  other  way.  It  was  on  my  sugges 
tion  that  Mr.  Carnegie  first  seriously  considered  the 
question  of  starting  a  plate  mill  for  the  manufacture 
of  ship  plates.  Aside  from  what  I  had  actually  learned, 
the  acquaintance  I  had  made  among  men  engaged  in 
the  steel  industry  was  to  be  of  vast  importance  to  me 
in  the  years  to  come. 

When  the  Administration  had  changed,  and  Mr. 
W.  C.  Whitney,  the  prince  of  secretaries,  had  taken  his 
place  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  there  was  a  sense  of 
relief  among  us  all.  His  business  methods  soon  be 
gan  to  show  excellent  results,  and  his  fair  treatment 
of  those  under  him  made  officers  and  men  alike  feel 
that  he  was  their  friend.  After  he  had  been  in  office 
but  a  few  weeks  he  sent  for  me,  and,  telling  me  frank 
ly  what  the  reports  against  me  as  inspector  of  the 
Fifth  District  had  been,  heard  what  I  had  to  say 
in  reply.  I  was  immediately  ordered  to  resume  my 
duties  in  Baltimore;  but,  in  view  of  the  large  amount 
of  work  I  had  on  hand  in  Pittsburg,  I  was  allowed 

234 


Lighthouse  Service 

to  delay  one  month  in  order  that  I  might  com 
plete  it. 

Once  more  in  the  lighthouse  service,  and  this  time 
with  the  assurance  that  my  side  of  any  controversy 
would  be  heard,  I  felt  that  I  could  do  many  things 
to  the  benefit  of  the  service.  The  change  of  Adminis 
tration  brought  with  it  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
smaller  politicians  for  a  complete  change  in  the 
keepers  of  all  lighthouses,  as  well  as  in  other  Govern 
ment  places.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
Lighthouse  Board  decided  that  political  opinion  was 
not  a  sufficient  cause  for  removal.  If  a  keeper  was 
found  neglecting  his  duty  he  was  to  be  removed  at 
once;  but  in  all  cases  where  charges  were  preferred 
against  them  keepers  were  to  have  a  fair  investiga 
tion,  and  justice  was  to  be  done  them.  Charges  were 
written  against  nearly  every  keeper  in  the  district, 
and  many  of  these  documents  were  worthy  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  or  Henry  Clay.  I  carefully  investigated 
every  case,  and,  after  hearing  all  the  evidence,  sent  in 
my  report.  Out  of  over  four  hundred  keepers  I  found 
it  necessary  to  recommend  the  removal  of  one,  and  one 
only,  for  neglecting  his  duties  to  do  political  work. 

One  case  on  investigation  amused  me  very  much; 
it  is  a  fair  sample  case.  The  keeper  of  a  light  on  the 
western  shore  of  Chesapeake  Bay  was  charged  with 
offences  enough  to  have  hanged  a  dozen  men.  The 
language  of  the  report  against  him  was,  as  I  have 
stated  before,  worthy  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  I  notified 
all  the  witnesses  tcr  be  at  the  station  on  a  certain 
day  to  give  testimony  in  the  case.  After  a  long  hear 
ing  the  lawyer  who  represented  the  side  of  the  com- 

235 


A  Sailor's  Log 

plainants  admitted  that  he  had  failed  to  show  cause 
for  removal;  but  the  charge  of  drunkenness  still  had 
to  be  heard.  The  witness  to  this  charge  was  a  fisher 
man  who  had  been  playing  cards  with  the  accused 
keeper,  and  upon  being  sworn  testified  that  he,  the 
keeper,  was  undoubtedly  drunk — very  drunk.  I  asked 
what  the  indications  of  drunkenness  were.  "  Well, 
sir,  the  accused  was  playing  '  seven  up '  with  me,  and 
had  only  two  to  go  when  I  dealt  him  the  Jack  and 
deuce,  and  he  begged;  now,  you  can't  convince  any 
man  in  Matthews  County,  Virginia,  that  a  man  who 
would  do  that  wasn't  drunk;  certainly  he  was  drunk, 
sir,  and  ought  to  be  turned  out."  I  sent  to  the  Treas 
ury  Department  many  cases  where  the  evidence  wasn't 
even  as  incriminating  as  the  above. 

I  found  most  of  the  keepers  of  lighthouses  in  Vir 
ginia  waters  were  coloured  men  put  in  office  by  Gen 
eral  Mahone  and  his  followers.  Many  of  them  had  to 
be  removed,  generally  because  they  would  go  to  sleep 
and  neglect  their  lights.  One  of  them  I  had  to  re 
move  for  a  very  curious  offence,  or  rather  he  removed 
himself  when  he  found  I  was  going  to  do  it.  I  visited 
the  station  where  he  was  on  watch,  and  was  inspect 
ing,  when  I  noticed  that  he  followed  me  about,  spit 
ting  frequently  when  he  thought  I  was  not  observing 
him.  I  learned  from  the  principal  keeper,  a  coloured 
Methodist  minister,  that  the  fellow  was  chewing  herbs 
and  spitting  around  me  as  a  hoodoo  to  prevent  me 
from  reporting  the  various  irregularities  I  discovered. 
When  he  found  that  I  had  reported  them  all,  and 
asked  his  removal  as  well,  he  jumped  overboard  and 
was  not  seen  again. 

236 


New  Ships 

When  Congress  had  appropriated  money  for  new 
ships,  Mr.  Whitney  detached  me  from  lighthouse  duty 
and  ordered  me  as  chief  steel  inspector,  with  an  office 
in  the  Navy  Department.  The  rebuilding  of  the  navy 
had  begun  in  earnest,  and  the  work  could  not  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  understood  better  how 
to  handle  it.  In  addition  to  being  an  able  business 
man  of  broad  gauge,  Mr.  Whitney  knew  how  to  select 
his  subordinates  and  get  the  best  work  out  of  them. 

I  went  to  work  at  once  on  the  specifications  for 
the  material  for  the  new  ships,  and  it  was  at  this  time 
that  I  felt  most  the  advantages  my  Pittsburg  experi 
ences  gave  me.  I  was  confident  of  what  the  steel  men 
could  do,  and  I  therefore  made  the  specifications 
harder  than  those  of  the  British  admiralty,  which  had, 
up  to  this  time,  been  considered  quite  difficult  to  fill. 
When  I  had  secured  the  services  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  line  officers  to  look  after  the  inspection  of  the  ma 
terial,  I  went  with  them  to  the  different  mills  and 
showed  them  just  how  the  work  was  to  be  done.  In 
a  wonderfully  short  space  of  time  everything  was 
working  smoothly,  and  the  shipyards  were  being  sup 
plied  as  rapidly  as  they  could  use  the  material.  This 
was  not  accomplished,  however,  without  much  com 
plaint  from  certain  steel  mills.  They  thought  the 
specifications  too  severe,  and  declared  that  they  could 
not  fill  them;  but  I  knew  better,  and  was  able  to  con 
vince  the  Secretary  that  it  would  be  bad  policy  to 
change.  I  knew,  of  course,  that  pot  metal  was  cheaper 
than  steel,  and  that  our  people  would  go  on  making 
pot  metal  until  we  forced  them  to  do  something  bet 
ter.  Men  were  not  in  the  business  for  their  health, 

237 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  if  they  could  get  steel  prices  for  pot  metal,  so 
much  the  better.  Many  of  the  leading  firms  saw  the 
advantage  of  working  to  a  high  standard,  and  they 
admitted  afterward  that  our  specifications  and  inspec 
tion  had  been  the  very  best  thing  for  them  in  the  end. 
It  was  marvellous  to  see  with  what  rapid  strides  our 
people  went  ahead,  until  in  a  few  years  we  could 
make  better  stuff  than  any  of  the  celebrated  foreign 
concerns.  Eventually  the  United  States  became  a 
dangerous  rival  in  the  steel  markets  of  the  world.  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  know  that  I  lived  to  see  it,  even  if  I 
had  so  little  to  do  with  accomplishing  the  result. 

When  everything  was  running  smoothly  and  the 
steel  being  supplied  satisfactorily,  the  Department 
found  a  new  job  for  me.  I  was  ordered  as  naval  secre 
tary  of  the  Lighthouse  Board,  and  at  last  I  was  in 
position  to  do  many  things  I  had  long  hoped  to  ac 
complish.  Mr.  Fairchild,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  was  a  most  progressive  and  able  business  man, 
and  saw  the  good  to  come  from  many  of  the  things 
I  proposed.  With  the  approval  and  assistance  of  the 
board,  I  succeeded  in  having  the  lighthouse  keepers 
put  into  a  proper  uniform,  and  their  appointment 
entirely  removed  from  any  chance  of  political  inter 
ference. 

I  had  long  felt  the  necessity  of  some  system  of 
lights  by  which  large  vessels,  particularly  the  ocean 
liners,  could  enter  the  harbour  of  New  York  during  the 
night  instead  of  lying  outside  and  waiting  for  day 
light.  Captain  Fred  Rodgers,  the  able  inspector  of 
the  Third  District,  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Mac 
kenzie,  his  assistant,  gave  me  their  cordial  assistance, 

238 


All   about  a  Buoy 

and  by  united  effort  we  worked  out  and  installed  the 
system  of  electrically  lighted  buoys  now  in  use.  I 
supplied  the  money  and  they  the  brains,  and  between 
us  we  scored  a  great  success.  New  York  was  the  first 
place  in  the  world  to  be  supplied  with  such  buoys,  and 
from  the  day  they  were  put  down  vessels  came  in  at 
night  as  readily  as  in  daytime. 

In  my  efforts  to  aid  the  seafaring  people,  know 
ing  well  their  necessities,  I  sometimes  encountered 
very  curious  opposition.  A  whistling  buoy  was  placed 
in  the  entrance  to  Newport  Harbour,  where  the  dense 
fogs  made  navigation  very  dangerous  for  the  thou 
sands  of  passengers  who  entered  and  left  Narragansett 
Bay.  The  captains  and  officers  of  vessels  on  that  part 
of  the  coast  were  very  grateful,  but  in  a  few  weeks  one 
of  the  leading  landed  proprietors  on  Bateman's  Point, 
a  man  of  wide  scientific  reputation,  complained  of  the 
buoy  as  a  nuisance,  and  brought  every  possible  influ 
ence  to  bear  on  the  Lighthouse  Board  to  have  it  re 
moved,  regardless  of  the  interests  of  commerce.  He 
finally  asserted  that  the  noise  made  by  the  buoy  was 
so  dreadful  that  it  turned  the  milk  sour  in  his  fine  herd 
of  Jersey  cows.  When  we  had  secured  a  proper  site 
and  built  a  lighthouse  and  fog  signal  to  protect  the 
dangerous  point  the  whistler  was  removed,  and  the 
professor  again  had  sweet  milk  for  his  breakfast. 

After  getting  my  work  in  the  Lighthouse  Board 
in  good  shape,  I  was  given  a  job  in  shipbuilding  in 
addition  to  my  other  duties.  Congress  had  made  an 
appropriation  for  building  two  armoured  cruisers  in 
Government  dockyards,  and  one  of  them  was  to  be 
constructed  at  the  New  York  yard.  For  some  reason 

239 


A  Sailor's  Log 

there  was  great  delay  in  starting  the  work,  which  did 
not  meet  with  the  business  views  of  Mr.  Whitney.  He 
sent  for  me  and,  after  discussing  the  case  somewhat, 
said  to  me:  "  We  have  everything  that  the  Cramps 
have — engineers,  constructors,  draughtsmen — every 
thing  except  Cramp;  yet  we  can't  get  the  ship  started. 
I  want  you  to  be  Cramp,  and  get  things  moving."  So 
I  went  to  New  York,  and  in  my  very  limited  way  tried 
to  play  the  part  of  the  great  shipbuilder  Cramp,  who 
has  no  peer  in  his  line  of  work.  The  keel  of  the  Maine 
was  promptly  laid  and  the  material  rapidly  procured, 
but,  owing  to  the  lack  of  proper  machinery  and  the 
vast  amount  of  red  tape  encountered  under  the  mon 
strous  bureau  organization  of  the  Navy  Department, 
progress  was  very  slow.  I  well  remember  striking  a 
small  water  pipe  while  placing  the  foundations  for  a 
plate-bending  machine,  and  the  month  and  more  of 
anxious  work  to  find  out  which  bureau  owned  it,  and 
then  to  get  it  moved  a  few  feet.  I  generally  left 
Washington  on  Monday,  spent  Tuesday  and  Wednes 
day  with  my  able  assistants  in  the  New  York  yard, 
and  on  Wednesday  night  returned  to  my  work  in  the 
Lighthouse  Board.  I  had  always  held  that  it  was  bet 
ter  for  an  officer  to  wear  out  rather  than  rust  out. 
About  this  time  I  was  confident  that  I  was  not  in 
danger  of  rust. 

When  the  Harrison  Administration  came  in  I  felt 
the  need  of  rest,  and  at  once  applied  for  a  year's  leave, 
which  was  granted.  I  intended  to  take  service  with 
the  newly  organized  Nicaragua  Canal  Company,  but 
finding  that  undesirable,  was  employed  by  a  New  York 
syndicate,  which  was  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of 

240 


An   Unseaworthy   Ship 

wood  fibre  under  a  new  process.  This  opened  to  me 
a  new  field  of  study,  and  I  was  busily  engaged  look 
ing  over  the  various  water  powers  in  Maine  and  ex 
amining  the  supply  of  spruce  wood,  when  suddenly, 
without  warning,  I  was  ordered  to  command  the 
United  States  steamer  Ossipee,  at  Norfolk,  Virginia. 
I  was  to  sail  as  soon  as  possible,  and  take  Mr.  Fred 
erick  Douglass,  our  minister  to  Hayti,  and  his  family 
to  Port-au-Prince.  The  ship  was  reported  by  the  yard 
officials  as  unfit  for  sea  on  account  of  the  condition 
of  her  boilers.  Certain  newspapers  assumed  that  I  did 
not  fancy  the  job,  and  had  therefore,  in  some  mysteri 
ous  way,  disabled  the  ship,  to  avoid  obeying  my  orders. 
As  the  ship  had  plenty  of  canvas,  I  was  confident  that 
I  could  sail  her  to  Hayti,  and  I  was  very  sure  she 
would  drift  back  with  the  Gulf  Stream  when  I  had 
landed  the  minister;  so  I  wired  the  Secretary  that, 
notwithstanding  the  report  about  the  boilers,  I  was 
prepared  to  carry  out  the  orders  he  had  given  me.  At 
the  same  time  I  assured  him  that  I  had  no  feeling 
as  to  the  cargo  he  might  order  carried  in  a  Govern 
ment  vessel,  be  it  ammunition,  ministers,  dynamite, 
or  mules.  I  had  known  Mr.  Douglass  all  my  life,  and 
entertained  the  highest  respect  for  him.  Another  ves 
sel  was  ordered  to  convey  him  to  his  station,  and  the 
Ossipee,  on  closer  inspection,  was  found  too  rotten 
even  to  permit  of  repairs.  After  being  in  command 
two  weeks,  I  was  again  granted  leave  and  allowed  to 
go  on  with  my  outside  work. 

When  I  had  fairly  mastered  my  subject  I  was  di 
rected  to  erect  a  sulphite-fibre  mill  at  Appleton,  Wis 
consin,  which  I  did,  and  in  nine  months  had  it  com- 

241 


A  Sailor's  Log 

pleted  and  turning  out  first-class  sheets  of  wood  fibre. 
During  the  winter  I  was  engaged  on  this  work  the  ther 
mometer  frequently  went  as  low  as  30°  below  zero,  and 
once  touched  39°  below;  but  the  air  was  very  dry,  and 
I  enjoyed  every  hour  of  the  time.  My  water  power 
was  at  last  harnessed,  and  when  all  the  water  wheels 
were  running  and  the  vast  mass  of  machinery  doing 
its  work,  I  felt  well  repaid  for  my  labour.  The  knowl 
edge  I  gained  was  of  great  benefit  to  me  afterward 
when  I  found  myself  in  command  of  a  ship  with  her 
seventy-odd  engines  of  various  kinds. 


242 


CHAPTER    XX 
THE  YORKTOWN'S  CRUISE  TO  CHILE 

IN  August,  1891,  I  was  ordered  to  command  the 
gunboat  Yorktown,  then  in  the  North  Atlantic  Squad 
ron,  known  as  the  "  White  Squadron,"  from  the  fact 
that  the  ships  were  all  painted  white.  I  joined  her  in 
New  York,  relieving  Commander  F.  E.  Chadwick,  who 
had  commanded  her  since  she  was  first  placed  in  com 
mission.  She  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  strong, 
well-built  ship,  very  fast  in  smooth  water,  but  a  little 
tender  in  a  heavy  sea.  Her  officers  were  able  men, 
and  her  crew  very  smart  and  well  up  in  their  drills 
and  exercises.  Ten  days  after  I  assumed  command  the 
squadron,  under  command  of  Admiral  Walker,  got 
under  way  and  passed  up  through  Hell  Gate,  the 
flagship  Chicago  leading.  We  visited  a  number  of 
New  England  ports  where  fairs  and  shows  of  various 
kinds  were  being  held,  and  where  the  presence  of  a 
number  of  war  ships  would  add  to  the  attractions  of 
such  gatherings.  It  was  not  very  exciting  work,  and 
was  in  many  ways  unpleasant  duty,  but  the  ships  be 
longed  to  the  people,  and  we  were  only  too  glad  to 
show  them  how  their  money  was  being  used.  In  re 
turn  for  what  little  courtesy  we  could  show  them  the 
people  were  kind  and  generous  in  their  treatment  of 

243 


A  Sailor's  Log 

us,  and  entertained  us  with  true  New  England  hos 
pitality. 

At  the  end  of  September  I  was  ordered  to  New 
York  to  prepare  at  once  for  foreign  service.  A  few 
days  later  orders  came  for  us  to  proceed  without  de 
lay  to  Valparaiso,  Chile,  and  report  to  the  admiral 
commanding  the  Pacific  station  for  duty.  The 
Chileans  had  for  a  year  past  been  fighting  among 
themselves,  and  unfortunately  much  bad  feeling  had 
been  shown  toward  us,  particularly  toward  our  navy, 
by  the  revolutionary  party  in  this  war.  The  friction 
between  the  two  countries  had  become  acute,  and  the 
prospect  of  active  service,  possibly  war,  gave  great  in 
terest  to  our  cruise.  We  worked  incessantly  night  and 
day,  and  on  October  8th  I  hauled  out  from  the  navy 
yard  and  that  evening  put  to  sea.  As  we  passed 
Sandy  Hook  the  storm  signals  were  flying,  and  every 
thing  indicated  a  northeast  gale;  but  for  the  time 
being  the  wind  was  fresh  from  northwest,  and  we  ran 
for  Hatteras  with  all  sails  set  and  a  fair  wind.  The 
long  northeast  swell  that  was  felt  all  the  next  day 
warned  me  not  to  lose  any  time  in  getting  across  the 
Gulf  Stream  if  I  wanted  to  avoid  trouble.  Owing  to 
the  reputation  the  ship  had  of  being  tender  under  can 
vas,  I  did  not  drive  her  hard  for  the  first  day  or  two, 
but  gradually,  as  we  learned  her  tricks,  we  gave  her  all 
she  could  stand,  and  I  found  to  my  surprise  that  she 
was  as  stiff  as  a  church,  and  could  easily  carry  all  her 
canvas. 

We  ran  just  ahead  of  the  northeaster  until  we 
reached  the  latitude  of  Bermuda,  where  we  found 
beautiful  weather,  which  we  held  until  we  arrived  at  St. 

244 


A    Heavy   Sea 

Thomas.  We  made  the  land  in  the  afternoon  just 
before  dark,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  in  in 
time  to  avoid  a  hurricane  which  passed  to  the  south 
of  us  during  the  night.  We  coaled  in  eight  hours,  and 
by  noon  of  the  following  day  were  off  again,  bound 
for  Bahia,  in  Brazil,  which  was  to  be  our  second  coal 
ing  port.  As  we  passed  through  the  beautiful  West 
India  Islands  the  marks  of  the  recent  hurricane  were 
all  about  us  in  the  shape  of  trees  and  debris  blown  off 
from  the  land.  These  Windward  Islands  are  certainly 
as  grand  in  scenery  as  any  in  the  world.  I  did  not 
wonder  at  the  enthusiasm  of  Columbus  and  his  ras 
cally  crew  of  thieves  as  they  sailed  about  there  in 
search  of  the  yellow  metal  and  slaves.  For  the  first 
few  days  out  of  St.  Thomas  the  Yorktown  raised  Cain, 
because  she  had  a  heavy  following  sea  which  made 
her  roll  very  badly.  I  had  my  chair  lashed,  and  so 
managed  to  hold  on,  but  I  was  about  the  only  thing 
in  the  cabin  that  did.  One  minute  she  was  down  on 
her  beam  ends  apparently,  the  next  second  she  was 
down  on  the  other  side,  and  in  the  interval  she  had 
done  more  different  kinds  of  things  than  any  ship  I 
was  ever  in  before;  but  she  did  them  all  very  easily 
and  with  comfort  to  her  crew.  Writing  in  the  cabin 
was  impossible,  and  there  was  not  much  sleep  to  be 
had,  owing  to  the  constant  throbbing  of  the  screws. 
The  weather  grew  hotter  as  we  ran  south,  and  the  fire- 
room  force  suffered  severely  before  they  became  sea 
soned  to  the  heat.  We  crossed  the  line  in  fine  weather 
for  Neptune,  who  came  on  board  for  a  visit.  We  gave 
the  afternoon  to  him  and  his  antics. 

During  the  night  of  October  28th  the  wind  sud- 
17  245 


A  Sailor's  Log 

denly  whipped  around  to  the  south  and  blew  a  hard 
gale  from  that  quarter.  We  drove  head  into  it  all 
night,  and  at  daylight  had  the  land  in  sight  ahead  and 
on  both  bows,  but  nothing  that  we  could  recognise. 
My  cabin  had  been  flooded  during  the  night,  and  I 
had  spent  my  time  on  the  bridge,  so  was  well  pleased 
when  the  navigator  found  something  he  could  swear 
by.  We  had  been  set  out  of  our  course  eighteen  miles 
during  the  night,  but  now  we  had  the  entrance  buoys 
in  sight,  and  in  a  short  time  were  anchored  in  the  har 
bour,  eleven  and  a  half  days  from  St.  Thomas — not  a 
bad  run  for  the  little  ship.  It  was  my  first  visit  to  Ba- 
hia,  and  I  found  the  city,  as  viewed  from  the  water, 
very  pleasing.  The  health  officer,  a  much-begilded 
dago,  paid  his  visit  and  assured  me  that  there  was  no 
fever  on  shore,  the  health  of  the  place  in  his  opinion 
being  perfect.  I  took  this  with  many  grains  of  salt, 
and  gave  the  necessary  orders  to  guard  against  infec 
tion  if  possible. 

The  coal  men,  bumboat  men,  and  various  other 
sharks  were  soon  on  board.  Coal  was  twelve  dollars 
a  ton,  but  have  it  I  must,  no  matter  what  the  cost, 
and  arrangements  were  made  to  fill  my  bunkers  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment.  The  American  consul  soon 
came  on  board,  and  from  him  I  learned  that  the 
Chileans  had  killed  several  of  the  crew  of  the  Balti 
more  and  wounded  many  others  in  the  streets  of  Val 
paraiso;  that  the  Boston  and  Atlanta  had  been  ordered 
out,  and  that  other  vessels  were  soon  to  follow.  Of 
course,  we  were  much  excited  over  the  news,  and  most 
anxious  to  hurry  on  our  way.  We  drove  the  coal 
men  to  their  limit  day  and  night. 

246 


A   Pig   Lost 

I  had  lost  so  much  sleep  during  the  last  days  of 
the  run  from  St.  Thomas  that  I  found  myself  quite 
done  up;  but  a  few  hours'  sleep,  a  fine  fresh  lettuce 
salad,  a  pineapple,  and  many  glasses  of  iced  water 
quite  put  me  on  edge  again,  and  I  was  ready  for  what 
ever  might  come  my  way.  In  the  late  afternoon  a 
German  steamer  from  Santos,  Brazil,  came  in  and  an 
chored  a  short  distance  astern  of  us.  The  health  offi 
cer  visited  her  and  then  came  to  inform  me  that  she 
had  six  cases  of  yellow  fever  on  board,  and  had  lost 
her  chief  engineer  and  four  men  of  the  crew  from  the 
same  disease  on  her  way  up  the  coast.  It  was  only 
after  I  had  used  some  very  strong  language  that  this 
brass-bound  individual  returned  and  shifted  the  steam 
er's  berth  to  the  quarantine  ground.  He  had  assured 
me  that  there  was  no  yellow  fever  on  shore,  but 
I  did  not  believe  a  word  he  said,  and  never  went  on 
shore  myself  nor  allowed  any  one  else,  except  those 
having  important  business,  to  go.  On  October  3Oth 
I  received  a  telegram  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
to  proceed  to  Montevideo  and  there  await  further  in 
structions.  This,  of  course,  might  mean  anything — 
change  of  orders,  or  to  await  the  arrival  of  more  ships 
before  proceeding.  One  thing  I  was  sure  of,  however, 
and  that  was  that  I  was  to  lose  no  time  in  getting  to 
the  point  indicated;  and  I  did  not.  As  soon  as  the 
coaling  was  completed  and  mess  stores  taken  in  I  put 
to  sea.  The  caterer  of  the  wardroom  mess  complained 
of  the  difficulty  of  getting  necessary  articles,  and  the 
loss  of  one  very  important  one  in  the  shape  of  a  black 
pig.  The  pig  had  been  brought  on  board,  but  dis 
appeared  in  a  very  mysterious  way — it  was  supposed 

247 


A  Sailor's  Log 

that  he  had  gone  overboard  through  one  of  the 
ports. 

When  once  more  outside  and  heading  for  Monte 
video,  we  found  the  sea  very  heavy,  caused  by  a  strong 
southwest  breeze.  About  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  of 
the  third  day  out  the  clouds  began  to  bank  up  a  little 
in  the  southwest,  and  occasional  flashes  of  lightning 
could  be  seen,  which  gradually  increased,  until  by  half 
past  eight  it  was  one  vibration  of  light.  The  effect 
was  most  alarming,  but  at  the  same  time  grand  and 
beautiful.  The  brain  was  stunned  and  the  eyes 
blinded  by  it.  As  yet  not  a  sound  of  thunder  could 
be  heard,  though  the  storm  was  evidently  approaching 
us  with  great  rapidity. 

I  stood  on  the  deck  aft  watching  it,  and  when,  at 
about  9.30,  it  struck  us,  I  was  blown  down  as  if  by 
some  heavy  weight.  Our  sails,  though  furled,  were 
snatched  off  the  ship  in  a  second,  and  went  whirling 
through  the  air  like  great  birds  straight  up  over  the 
mastheads.  At  the  same  moment  the  thunder  broke 
over  us  like  forty  batteries  of  artillery,  and  the  electric 
fluid  running  down  our  conductors  was  sufficient  to 
make  the  whole  deck  as  bright  as  noonday.  It  was 
the  most  awful,  grand,  and  beautiful  sight  I  ever  saw. 
Of  course,  I  realized  that  a  whirlwind  had  struck  us. 
Nothing  could  be  done  to  save  our  sails — they  were 
gone;  but  I  could  do  something  to  ease  the  little 
frigate  and  help  her  out  of  the  scrape.  I  rang  full 
speed  ahead,  and  pointed  her  up  to  the  wind  so  that 
I  passed  through  the  blessed  whirlwind  in  the  shortest 
possible  time.  Just  ten  minutes  after  it  struck  us  it 
was  gone,  and  so  were  all  our  sails  and  much  of  our 

248 


At   Montevideo 

rigging;  but  I  was  satisfied  to  get  off  as  well  as  we 
did.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  nasty,  hard,  southwest 
gale  which  blew  all  day,  and,  in  fact,  at  intervals  in 
various  directions  for  several  days  afterward. 

All  day  Wednesday  we  had  to  head  her  up  to  the 
sea  and  slow  her  to  six  knots,  as  she  was  taking  in  too 
much  water  over  the  bows;  but  with  it  all  she  proved 
herself  a  perfect  beauty,  and  one  of  the  best  sea  boats 
I  was  ever  in.  I  was  on  the  deck  constantly,  of  course, 
watching  everything,  increasing  speed  whenever  prac 
ticable,  and  so  managed  to  plug  along,  and  on  the 
morning  of  November  7th,  at  three  o'clock,  made 
Maldonado  Light,  and  anchored  at  Montevideo  in  the 
forenoon.  What  a  difference — October  8th  in  New 
York,  November  8th  in  Montevideo!  We  certainly 
had  made  a  good  run,  doing  the  distance,  including 
stops,  in  thirty  days,  which,  I  believe,  was  the  best 
ever  done  by  a  vessel  of  war. 

The  usual  calls  were  made  on  me  at  once,  and  in 
returning  them  I  got  a  good  wetting,  as  there  was  a 
heavy  sea  running,  and  the  place  was  totally  unpro 
tected  by  anything  like  a  breakwater.  The  whole 
South  Atlantic  came  tumbling  in  when  the  wind  was 
in  the  right  direction,  and  made  it  very  nasty.  Cap 
tain  Lang,  of  the  Cleopatra  (English),  came  on  board 
in  a  driving  rainstorm  to  call.  He  had  been  in  com 
mand  of  the  Chinese  navy  at  one  time,  and  I  found 
him  a  most  interesting  man  to  talk  to.  Soon  after  he 
left  me  the  rain  turned  into  a  southeast  gale,  and  by 
night  it  was  howling  at  a  great  rate,  the  ship  pitch 
ing  as  if  she  were  at  sea.  This  was  not  promising  for 
taking  the  coal,  which  I  had  ordered  to  be  alongside 

249 


A  Sailor's  Log 

at  daylight  in  the  morning.  However,  I  went  to  sleep, 
hoping  that  it  would  pass  off  as  suddenly  as  it  came. 
I  knew  that  everything  in  that  part  of  the  world,  from 
the  form  of  government  to  the  rise  of  the  tide, 
changed  with  great  rapidity.  In  this,  however,  I  was 
mistaken;  the  weather  grew  worse  rather  than  better, 
and  the  ship  began  walking  away  with  her  anchor.  A 
second  anchor  brought  her  up,  and  she  rode  it  out, 
pitching  bows  under  in  the  heavy  seas  which  were 
breaking  clear  over  the  Cleopatra. 

As  soon  as  I  arrived  I  wired  the  Navy  Department 
the  fact,  stating  that  I  would  leave  in  five  days,  that 
time  being  necessary  to  complete  the  new  sails  which 
had  been  ordered,  and  some  of  the  canvas  cut  in  two 
hours  after  my  anchor  was  down.  The  following  day 
I  had  a  cable  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  directing 
me  to  proceed  to  Valparaiso,  which  was  very  satis 
factory.  I  got  under  way  at  once  from  the  outer  an 
chorage  and  took  the  ship  inside,  where  I  ran  her  on 
to  the  mud  so  that  we  might  coal.  She  was  soon  a 
mass  of  coal  dust  from  stem  to  stern. 

On  the  way  down  from  Bahia,  and  when  five  days 
out  from  that  place,  I  had  a  curious  experience  with 
the  pig  the  wardroom  mess  had  lost.  At  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  I  was  aroused  by  my  orderly,  who  an 
nounced,  "  Sir,  Dennis  is  found."  "  Who  the  devil  is 
Dennis,"  I  replied,  "  and  why  do  you  disturb  me?  " 
He  explained  that  Dennis  was  the  lost  pig,  that  he  had 
been  found  in  a  coal  bunker,  was  very  weak  and  ill,  and 
they  wanted  the  captain  to  come  out  and  see  if  anything 
could  be  done  for  him.  So  out  I  went,  and  found 
the  ship's  cook  with  the  pig  in  his  arms  feeding  him 

250 


A   Pig   Found 

condensed  milk  out  of  a  teaspoon.  One  of  the  coal 
passers,  an  Irish  lad,  had  gone  into  the  coal  bunker 
to  pass  out  coal  for  the  furnaces.  After  a  few  shovel 
fuls  had  been  taken  out  he  felt  something  move  about 
his  feet,  and  in  a  moment  heard  a  faint  squeal,  which 
in  the  black  darkness  of  the  place  was  too  much  for 
his  nerves.  Dropping  his  shovel,  he  made  at  top  speed 
for  the  fire  room,  thinking  the  devil  was  close  at  his 
heels!  Upon  investigation,  Dennis  was  found,  so  thin 
that  one  could  almost  read  a  newspaper  through  him. 
He  had  fallen  into  one  of  the  coal  chutes  while  coal 
was  being  taken  in,  and,  becoming  packed  in  with  the 
coal,  had  remained  in  that  position  without  food  or 
water  for  five  days,  until  released  by  the  coal  heaver 
as  I  have  related.  He  recovered  entirely,  became  the 
pet  of  the  ship,  and  cruised  with  us  clear  up  into 
the  ice  of  the  arctic  regions. 

When  the  coaling  was  fairly  under  way  I  went  on 
shore  to  call  on  our  minister  and  stretch  my  legs. 
Afterward  I  took  a  cab  and  drove  about  three  and  a 
half  miles  to  call  on  a  Mr.  Evans,  who  had  sent  me 
his  card,  and  was  well  repaid  for  my  trouble  and  time. 
On  the  way  to  his  quinta  (country  place)  I  passed 
through  the  main  portion  of  the  city,  which  was  clean 
and  comfortable  and  well  paved.  Mr.  Evans  had  quite 
a  history.  He  had  gone  to  Montevideo  forty-eight 
years  before,  a  boy  from  Pennsylvania,  as  a  sailor  on  a 
brig,  and,  being  steady  and  of  a  practical  turn  of  mind, 
thought  he  would  try  his  hand  at  supplying  ships. 
From  the  first  he  made  a  success  of  it,  and  when  the 
civil  war  broke  out  he  had  amassed  a  considerable 
fortune,  which  he  had  well  invested.  The  time  soon 

251 


A  Sailor's  Log 

came  when  our  credit  was  down  and  our  vessels  could 
get  neither  money  nor  credit,  and  at  this  moment  Mr. 
Evans  stepped  in  and  put  his  entire  fortune  and  all  he 
could  borrow  at  the  disposal  of  our  people,  saying 
that  he  would  back  the  United  States  for  all  he  was 
worth.  After  the  war  was  over  he  received  his  money 
back  with  a  good  interest,  and  he  at  once  invested  in 
real  estate,  which  went  up  with  a  boom,  and  he  was 
immensely  wealthy.  Then  he  bought  two  blocks  of 
land  in  the  edge  of  the  city  and  proceeded  to  make  his 
home,  which  was  like  fairyland.  Not  having  a  wife,  he 
sent  home  for  a  widowed  cousin,  who  came  out  to  him 
and  had  always  been  his  housekeeper  and  mainstay. 
When  I  was  there  she  was  very  ill,  not  expected  to 
live,  which  threw  a  gloom  over  the  fascinating  place. 
She  must  have  been  a  wonderful  woman,  for  the  house 
was  full  of  her  work — such  embroidery  as  I  never 
dreamed  of,  pictures  by  the  dozen  so  finely  done  that 
I  was  persuaded  they  were  oil  paintings,  and  such  a 
collection  of  bric-a-brac! 

But  what  pleased  me  most  were  the  flowers — thou 
sands  of  such  roses  as  we  see  in  the  rose  catalogues, 
American  Beauties,  as  large  as  a  dinner  plate,  and 
Marechal  Niels  so  perfect  that  I  just  stopped  and  stood 
lost  in  admiration.  I  don't  exaggerate  when  I  say  that 
one  could  have  filled  a  freight  car  with  the  most  perfect 
flowers  I  had  ever  seen  without  making  perceptible 
impression  on  the  mass.  When  I  went  back  to  the 
ship  I  had  two  large  baskets  of  the  beautiful  things, 
and  one  of  lemons  which  I  had  helped  to  pull,  and  both 
hands  full  of  choice  buds;  the  cabin  was  beautiful  as  a 
result.  When  Mr.  Evans  first  started  in  business  he 

252 


In    the   Straits 

had  had  built  in  Baltimore  a  very  able  boat,  which  was 
brought  out  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel,  and  with  her  his 
fortune  was  begun.  She  was  now  hauled  up  in  his 
yard,  painted  and  gilded  and  surrounded  with  flowers, 
and  as  they  would  not  allow  him  to  fly  the  American 
flag  here,  he  had  it  painted  on  her  mast,  wrapped  round 
and  round  from  one  end  lo  the  other.  He  had  known 
every  naval  officer  in  these  waters  for  forty  years,  and 
many  of  his  stories  were  most  interesting. 

During  my  stay  at  Montevideo  I  had  many  cables 
from  the  Department  regarding  the  new  Chilean 
cruiser  Errazuriz,  which  for  some  reason  was  causing 
them  much  anxiety.  I  found  that  she  was  undergoing 
repairs  at  Buenos  Ayres,  and  promptly  sent  an  officer 
in  plain  clothes  to  have  a  look  at  her.  He  succeeded 
in  getting  on  board,  and  remained  more  than  an  hour 
before  he  was  suspected  and  invited  to  leave.  During 
that  time  he  had  found  out  all  I  wanted  to  know,  and 
after  he  had  made  his  report  I  wired  the  Secretary  her 
condition,  and  that  he  need  not  worry  about  her,  as 
I  could  do  her  up  with  the  Yorktown  in  thirty  min 
utes  if  it  became  necessary.  The  news  from  Valpa 
raiso  at  this  time  was  alarming.  The  tension  between 
the  two  Governments  was  great,  and  war  might  come 
at  any  moment. 

The  instant  our  new  sails  were  on  board  I  again 
put  to  sea.  I  find  in  my  journal  the  following: 

"  Friday  Night,  November  20th. — We  are  at  anchor 
inside  Cape  Virgin  in  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  the  most 
desolate  spot  God  ever  made;  but  glad  to  be  here,  for 
it  is  a  frightful  night  at  sea — blowing  a  howler  from 
northwest,  and  so  bitterly  cold!  .  .  . 

253 


A  Sailor's  Log 

"  The  day  before  we  left  Montevideo  the  Philco- 
mayo,  a  Chilean  gunboat,  came  into  port  and  an 
chored  near  us  for  the  purpose,  no  doubt,  of  advising 
the  Errazuriz  at  Buenos  Ayres  of  our  movements,  and 
the  latter  may  make  an  effort  to  beat  us  to  Valparaiso; 
but  she  will  have  to  '  dust '  if  she  does  it,  for  we 
have  averaged  twelve  knots  since  leaving  the  river, 
and  won't  let  any  grass  grow  on  our  ship's  bottom 
until  I  report  to  the  admiral.  I  wish  we  could  have 
a  scrap  with  the  Errazuriz,  for  I  feel  confident  that 
we  could  take  her  into  camp  in  forty-five  minutes  by 
the  watch,  notwithstanding  all  her  new  French  rapid- 
fire  guns;  but  no  such  chance  will  offer,  I  fear. 

"  Within  a  mile  of  us,  on  the  point  of  Cape  Virgin, 
lies  a  magnificent  great  iron  ship  smashed  to  pieces 
and  turned  upon  her  beam  ends.  It  was  a  painful  sight 
as  we  came  by;  some  poor  fellow,  no  doubt,  running 
in  a  gale  and  thick  weather,  and  two  hundred  yards 
more  could  have  taken  him  clear." 

At  early  daylight  I  was  again  under  way,  standing 
for  Sandy  Point,  where  I  anchored  at  4  p.  M.,  thor 
oughly  worn  out  and  nearly  frozen  to  death  by  a  gale 
from  such  awful  snow-clad  mountains  that  I  was  nearly 
congealed,  and  unfit  for  work.  I  could  see  the  great 
glaciers  forty  miles  away  glinting  in  the  sun.  Our 
recent  run  through  the  tropics  had  unfitted  us  for 
this  sort  of  weather,  and  our  suffering  was  very  consid 
erable.  I  remained  at  Sandy  Point  only  from  sundown 
one  day  until  3  A.  M.  of  the  next,  when  it  was  light 
enough  to  see,  when  I  again  drove  ahead  at  thirteen 
knots  speed,  fearing  that  the  Errazuriz  might  be  try 
ing  to  get  ahead  of  me. 

254 


In   Smythe's    Channel 

The  scenery  was  grand  beyond  anything  I  have 
ever  seen,  but  it  was  so  fearfully  cold  and  blowing 
such  a  howling  gale  that  I  could  not  enjoy  it  as  I 
would  if  I  had  not  been  compelled  to  face  it  all  the 
time.  That  first  night  we  found  an  anchorage  in  a 
snug  little  hole  in  Smythe's  Channel,  and  had  a  com 
fortable  night  surrounded  by  such  mountains  of  snow 
and  ice  as  Switzerland  never  dreamed  of.  Directly  east 
of  us  was  a  magnificent  mountain,  as  large  as  all 
Switzerland,  and  a  pure  clear  white  to  the  very  top, 
where  the  outline  was  as  sharp  as  broken  glass;  and 
in  the  very  front,  facing  us,  a  glacier  thirty  miles  long. 
As  the  sun  set,  the  light  on  the  blue  crystal  ice  was 
a  sight  to  be  remembered,  and  the  silence  most  de 
licious — one  could  have  cut  it  with  a  knife,  it  was  so 
dense.  In  the  early  morning,  2  A.  M.,  daylight,  we 
were  under  way  and  again  driving  north  through 
Smythe's  Channel,  which  was  much  more  beautiful 
than  the  Magellan  Strait.  There  was  hardly  a  mo 
ment  when  we  were  out  of  sight  of  a  glacier  as  we 
twisted  and  turned  through  this  tortuous  channel,  but 
always  the  same  biting,  bitter  cold. 

Our  second  and  last  night  in  this  inland  sea  we 
found  a  most  beautiful  spot  for  the  night  about  sixty 
miles  south  of  the  English  Narrows,  which  are  the  ter 
ror  of  all  navigators.  When  our  anchor  was  down  we 
could  just  swing  clear  of  the  rocks,  which  rose  sixteen 
hundred  to  three  thousand  feet  straight  up  and  down 
all  around  us,  with  a  magnificent  waterfall  almost  on 
our  stern.  It  was  as  if  we  had  been  dropped  into  a 
well — only  our  surroundings  were  perfect.  At  each  of 
our  stopping  places  the  men  landed  and  put  up  our 

255 


A  Sailor's  Log 

head-board  bearing  the  name  of  the  ship,  date,  etc. 
This  is  a  custom  which  has  always  prevailed,  and  some 
of  the  anchorages  in  the  Straits  of  Magellan  looked 
like  graveyards.  We  found  the  Trenton's  mark  at 
one  place.  I  wish  I  could  have  had  some  photographs 
of  the  scenery,  for  no  one  can  ever  comprehend  the 
utter  wildness  and  magnificence  of  it  from  mere  de 
scription. 

From  this  last  anchorage  we  got  under  way  at 
2  A.  M.,  and  before  seven  were  approaching  the  Nar 
rows.  As  we  came  up  it  seemed  impossible  that  a  ship 
could  get  through;  indeed,  there  seemed  no  opening, 
the  turns  were  so  short.  But  she  went  through,  run 
ning  thirteen  and  a  half  knots,  and  it  was  a  beautiful 
sight  to  see  her  do  it — at  least  the  officers  told  me  it 
was;  I  did  not  see  much  of  it  myself,  for  I  had  taken 
charge,  and  my  blood  was  rushing  so  that  I  was  warm 
for  a  few  minutes  anyhow.  I  remembered  afterward 
that  every  face — all  the  men  were  on  deck — was  turned 
to  me.  We  were  in  the  Narrows  scarcely  six  minutes, 
and  yet  in  that  short  time  we  had  made  nearly  two 
complete  turns.  After  we  had  passed  the  Narrows 
it  was  all  plain  sailing,  and  by  four  in  the  afternoon 
we  were  out  into  the  Gulf  of  Penas  and  the  nasty 
Pacific  was  about  us.  And  such  a  gale,  and  the  most 
terrific  sea  I  have  ever  met!  It  was  running  from 
the  southwest  and  the  gale  blowing  from  the  north 
west,  which  was  our  course  up  the  coast,  and  the  little 
Yorktown  was  like  an  eggshell  in  the  whirl  of  waters. 
We  had  to  run  slowly  all  night,  but  in  the  morning  I 
gradually  increased  her  speed  and  for  two  days  did 
very  well,  notwithstanding  the  gale  continued;  but 

256 


At  Valparaiso 

then  the  chief  engineer  reported  that  by  some  mis 
count  we  were  forty  tons  of  coal  short,  and  I  was 
counting  on  that  forty  tons  to  bring  us  to  Valparaiso. 
I  put  her  under  half  power  at  once,  and  on  Satur 
day  night  at  midnight  ran  in  and  anchored  at  Lota, 
two  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  south  of  Valparaiso. 
Early  Sunday  we  took  in  seventy-five  tons  of  coal,  and 
Monday  we  anchored  at  Valparaiso  at  5  P.  M.,  fifty- 
one  days  from  New  York.  Every  one  said  we  had 
made  a  wonderful  passage,  but  I  did  not  think  so.  If 
we  had  not  lost  our  sails  on  the  coast  of  Brazil  and 
thus  met  with  delay  at  Montevideo,  and  if  we  had  had 
the  coal  I  had  counted  upon,  we  should  have  made  a 
good  passage,  but  as  it  was  I  was  not  any  too  well 
pleased. 


257 


CHAPTER    XXI 

CHILEAN    HOSTILITY 

WE  found  the  Baltimore  looking  warlike  and  ready 
for  business.  The  harbour  was  full  of  war  vessels, 
and  we  anchored  nearly  two  miles  from  the  landing; 
but  at  that  season  it  made  no  difference.  All  the 
inshore  port  was  filled  with  the  Chilean  navy,  and  a 
sorry-looking  lot  they  were.  The  story  of  the  killing 
of  the  two  men  of  the  Baltimore  and  the  wounding 
of  eighteen  others  showed  it  to  have  been  about  the 
most  cowardly  and  brutal  thing  I  ever  heard  of.  The 
men,  to  the  number  of  say  one  hundred,  went  on  shore 
on  liberty  at  2  p.  M.,  and  at  six  or  half  past  a  mob  of 
two  thousand,  assisted  by  the  police  to  the  number 
of  fifty,  armed  with  carbines  and  bayonets,  attacked 
three  of  our  men  in  a  street  car,  pulled  them  out  and 
stabbed  them  in  the  back;  one  of  them,  Reagan,  while 
being  supported  in  the  arms  of  a  shipmate,  was  shot 
and  instantly  killed  by  a  policeman.  I  don't  think 
the  shot  was  meant  for  him,  however,  but  for  the  man 
who  was  holding  him.  Reagan  was  already,  to  all 
appearances,  stabbed  to  death,  and  they  meant  to  kill 
the  other  man;  but  the  ball  passed  through  his  shirt 
and  neckerchief  and  through  Reagan's  neck,  killing 
him  instantly.  Whenever  half  a  dozen  of  our  men 

258 


Trouble   in   Chile 

got  together  they  would  fight  their  way  through  the 
cowardly  mob,  but  as  they  were  completely  unarmed, 
of  course  they  had  no  show,  and  so  were  gradually 
cut  down,  one  after  another,  and  dragged  off,  in  some 
cases  by  horses,  to  the  prisons.  Of  all  the  wounded 
men  of  the  Baltimore  not  one  was  cut  or  marked  in 
front  of  his  body;  all  wounds  were  in  the  back,  which 
tells  its  own  tale. 

When  I  had  called  on  Captain  Schley,  command 
ing  the  Baltimore,  and  reported  for  duty,  I  paid  my 
visits  of  ceremony  to  the  authorities  on  shore  and  the 
senior  Chilean  naval  officers  afloat.  They  were  all 
scrupulously  polite  to  me,  but  everywhere  there  was 
intense  hatred  for  the  Baltimore  and  her  crew.  At  this 
time  I  think  the  feeling  was  confined  to  them,  and  did 
not  extend  to  us  as  a  nation;  but  later  on  it  changed 
and  involved  everything  North  American.  Captain 
Schley  informed  me  that  he  was  going  north  in  a  few 
days,  probably  as  soon  as  the  Boston  arrived,  which 
I  regretted,  as  I  thought  he  should  remain  until  the 
trouble  about  his  men  had  been  settled.  He  was  in 
the  midst  of  a  correspondence  with  the  intendente, 
conducted  in  the  most  perfect  Castilian,  to  show,  or 
prove,  that  his  men  were  all  perfectly  sober  when  they 
were  assaulted  on  shore.  I  did  not  agree  with  him  in 
this,  for  in  the  first  place  I  doubted  the  fact,  and  in 
the  second  it  was  not  an  issue  worth  discussing.  His 
men  were  probably  drunk  on  shore,  properly  drunk; 
they  went  ashore,  many  of  them,  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  drunk,  which  they  did  on  Chilean  rum  paid 
for  with  good  United  States  money.  When  in  this 
condition  they  were  more  entitled  to  protection  than 

259 


A  Sailor's  Log 

if  they  had  been  sober.  This  was  my  view  of  it,  at 
least,  and  the  one  I  always  held  about  men  whom  I 
commanded.  Instead  of  protecting  them,  the  Chileans 
foully  murdered  these  men,  and  we  believed  with  the 
connivance  and  assistance  of  armed  policemen.  That 
was  the  issue — not  the  question  of  whether  they  were 
drunk  or  sober.  I  find  the  following  notes  from  my 
journal,  made  at  that  time,  of  interest: 

"  Valparaiso,  December  4,  1891. — My  time  has  been 
about  all  taken  up  with  official  calls  without  end.  .  .  . 
I  found  here,  when  we  came,  three  German  ships,  with 
an  admiral,  three  Frenchmen,  and  the  whole  Chilean 
navy;  and  in  addition  to  calls  on  each  of  them,  I  had 
to  call  on  our  consul,  and  the  intendente  of  Valpa 
raiso,  and  the  senior  naval  officer  on  shore.  All  hands 
have  been  exceedingly  polite  to  me.  They  all  hate  the 
crew  of  the  Baltimore  as  a  whole,  but  against  us,  as 
a  nation,  I  don't  think  they  have  any  feeling.  It  is 
not  my  business  to  make  trouble  here,  and  I  don't  in 
tend  to  give  offence  to  any  one  until  I  have  orders 
from  home,  and  then  I  shall  do  it  with  my  guns  and 
not  with  my  tongue.  I  am  giving  all  the  time  I  can 
to  get  at  the  bottom  facts  about  the  trouble  on  hand. 
As  far  as  I  can  now  see,  the  mob  that  set  upon  the 
Baltimore's  men  and  brutally  murdered  them  was 
made  up  of  the  worst  element  of  the  city,  and  included 
discharged  sailors  from  the  Chilean  fleet  and  probably 
soldiers;  but  it  is  plain  that  some  of  the  Chilean 
sailors  helped  our  unfortunate  men  in  every  way  they 
could,  and  it  is  known  that  one  officer,  a  lieutenant  of 
artillery,  cut  down  and  generally  knocked  out  seven 
or  eight  leaders  of  a  crowd  who  were  trying  to  get 

260 


Calls   of  Courtesy 

at  some  of  our  men  in  a  restaurant.  In  fact,  he  drew 
his  sword  and  defended  the  door  until  our  men  had 
escaped. 

"  My  position  is  that  even  if  our  men  were  all 
drunk  that  does  not  justify  the  police  in  shooting  their 
heads  off.  If  such  be  the  law,  we  must  either  make 
them  change  it  or  stay  away  from  a  country  where 
drunkenness  is  so  severely  punished.  The  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  must  have  ample  apology 
for  this  affair,  and  the  families  of  the  men  hurt  must 
be  paid,  or  we  had  better  pull  out  every  American  from 
Chilean  soil,  for  their  lives  won't  be  worth  having. 
Strongly  as  I  feel  on  the  subject,  I  can  not  see  any 
good  reason  why  I  should  not  be  perfectly  civil  and 
polite  to  them,  even  if  I  have  to  shoot  them  to 
morrow. 

"  As  soon  as  my  anchor  was  down  the  senior  officers 
sent  at  once  and  made  proper  calls,  and  I,  of  course, 
returned  them;  and  then,  being  the  last  comer,  I 
called  on  them  all  in  succession — first  the  Cochran, 
then  the  Esmeralda,  then  the  Huascar,  then  the 
Lynch,  and  then  the  Condell.  On  each  I  was  most 
pleasantly  greeted,  and  the  officers  were  cordial;  the 
men,  on  the  contrary,  scowled  at  me,  and  looked  as 
if  they  would  be  glad  of  a  chance  to  cut  my  throat. 

"  Saturday,  December  $th. — To-day  we  have  papers 
up  to  October  3ist.  .  .  .  It  is  curious  to  sit  in  this 
quiet  place  and  read  in  the  home  papers  of  the  ex 
citement  over  Chilean  affairs.  .  .  .  One  paper  has  it 
that  the  Newark  and  Philadelphia  are  to  come  with 
the  Atlanta,  and  that  Gherardi  will  command;  while 
another,  of  the  same  date,  says  that  he  goes  at  once 
18  261 


A  Sailor's  Log 

to  the  West  Indies  for  the  winter.  There  is  a  tele 
gram  published  here  this  afternoon  that  Walker  is 
ordered  to  Brazil  with  the  Chicago,  Atlanta,  and  Ben- 
nington;  and  so  it  goes.  One  thing,  however,  I  am 
certain  of,  and  that  is  that  the  Yorktown  is  here  with 
out  any  question,  and  ready  for  any  sort  of  business. 

"  December  6th. —  ...  At  a  dinner  the  other  day  we 
had  much  talk  about  the  recent  war  in  this  country,  and 
afterward  went  out  to  look  at  some  of  the  places  where 
the  fighting  was  done.  The  idea  prevails  in  the 
United  States  that  the  Chileans,  and  particularly  their 
navy,  fought  with  great  bravery;  but  I  find  on  investi 
gation  that  such  is  not  the  case,  at  least  not  accord 
ing  to  our  standard.  Balmaceda's  men  all  seem  to 
have  been  a  miserable  lot  of  traitors,  and  when  the 
time  came  to  fight  they  all  either  ran  away  or  went 
over  to  the  enemy.  To-day  I  have  been  on  board  the 
Cochran  to  a  dance.  The  captain  invited  us.  The 
people  were  very  cordial  to  us,  and  we  stayed  about 
twenty  minutes  and  then  went  on  shore  for  a  walk. 

"  Monday  Night,  December  ?th. — We  are  all  anxious 
to-night  to  know  what  Congress  has  done,  and  what 
President  Harrison  has  advised  about  Chile.  I  do 
hope  it  has  been  so  strong  and  plain  that  there  may 
be  no  mistake  about  it.  The  feeling  on  shore  is  very 
uneasy,  and  I  could  see  to-day  when  walking  through 
the  main  street  with  Schley  many  anxious  faces.  The 
mob  is  all  for  war  with  the  United  States,  or  any  one 
else  as  far  as  that  goes;  but  the  sensible  men  know  it 
would  be  suicide  and  nothing  else.  The  Baltimore  and 
Yorktown  would  give  their  navy  a  drubbing  in  two 
.hours,  and  when  the  Boston  comes  we  could  shell  the 

262 


Impending   Revolution 

town  into  ruins  and  never  be  hurt.  Everything  to-day 
looks  bad  for  Chile.  The  discontent  of  the  army  over 
the  preference  shown  the  navy  has  gone  so  far  that 
there  is  great  alarm  and  fear  of  another  revolution, 
and  all  the  soldiers  have  been  taken  out  of  the  forts 
around  the  harbour  and  men  from  the  fleet  put  in. 
News  from  Santiago  is  also  alarming.  Fifteen  hun 
dred  rifles  and  two  thousand  revolvers  were  yesterday 
stolen  from  the  Government  arsenal  at  that  point,  and 
are  now  supposed  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Balmace- 
dists.  Several  of  the  Chilean  naval  officers  have  inti 
mated  to  me  very  plainly  that  'they  would  not  stand 
any  nonsense,  and  I  don't  hesitate  to  say  that  I  would 
not  be  surprised  to  see  another  revolution  in  a  month. 
Recently  some  officers  of  the  army,  who  had  been 
promised  promotion,  received  commissions  which  did 
not  suit  them,  so  they  tore  them  up,  put  the  pieces 
in  a  bag,  and  sent  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  How 
is  that  for  military  discipline? 

"  Tuesday  Night. — No  news  yet  of  the  President's 
message  nor  what  Congress  thinks  of  affairs  in  Chile. 
The  Baltimore  received  orders  to-day  to  proceed  to 
Mare  Island,  and  in  a  few  days  I  shall  be  here  alone 
to  face  the  music  until  Wiltse  comes  in  the  Boston. 

"December  nth. — The  Baltimore  sailed  away  for 
Mare  Island  at  9  A.  M.  to-day,  cheered  by  all  the 
foreign  ships  except  the  Chileans.  First  we  gave 
them  three  times  three,  then  the  French  cheered 
them,  and  the  Germans  followed  suit;  both  nations 
had  up  the  signal,  '  Wish  you  pleasant  trip,'  to  which 
Schley  answered,  '  Thank  you/  The  senior  Chilean 
ship,  the  Cochran,  hoisted  a  signal,  but  we  could  not 

263 


A  Sailor's  Log 

make  out  the  flags,  and  the  Baltimore  did  not  answer, 
so  I  suppose  they  could  not  read  it.  The  signal  was 
kept  flying  until  the  Baltimore  was  out  of  sight,  when 
they  hauled  it  down.  I  suppose  we  will  now  be  told 
that  Captain  Schley  did  this  as  an  insult  to  the  Chilean 
flag.  For  all  official  purposes  I  shall  assume  that  the 
signal  was  not  read,  and  could  not  have  been,  because 
the  officer  of  the  Cochran  waited  too  long  before 
hoisting  it.  ... 

"  I  have  followed  strictly  the  regulations  and  cus 
toms  for  intercourse  with  foreign  ships  of  nations  with 
whom  we  are  at  peace,  and  the  result  is  that  the 
Chilean  officers  have  been  most  careful  in  observing 
toward  me  the  greatest  courtesy;  they  were  smart 
enough  to  see  that  while  I  had  no  '  chip  on  my  shoul 
der/  yet  I  would  yank  up  the  first  man  who  ventured 
to  neglect  the  least  point  of  etiquette.  People  on 
shore  are  very  generally  saying  that  the  presence  of 
the  Yorktown  has  done  much  to  produce  a  proper 
and  friendly  feeling,  and  at  the  same  time  some  of 
the  long  heads  are  saying:  '  Commander  Evans  is 
smart;  he  is  learning  all  about  the  Chilean  ships/ 
which  is  a  fact;  and  none  of  them  know  just  how  much 
I  have  found,  nor  will  they  ever,  unless  we  have  war 
with  them,  when  they  will  find  my  shells  searching  out 
their  most  vital  points.  I  am  quite  prepared  to  have 
some  people  say  that  I  am  leaning  too  far  toward  a 
friendly  solution  of  the  trouble  between  the  two  coun 
tries.  They  little  know  how  hard  I  have  to  hold 
myself.  One  of  the  Chileans  came  on  board  to-day 
and  sat  in  my  cabin  fully  an  hour,  giving  me  an  ac 
count  of  his  exploits  during  the  war.  He  was  most 

264 


Chilean   Insolence 

entertaining  with  his  bad  French,  and  I  got  from  him 
some  very  valuable  professional  information,  and  he 
went  away  much  impressed  with  the  friendly  way  in 
which  I  had  received  him.  All  I  did  was  to  give  him 
a  glass  of  champagne  and  let  him  talk.  We  have  news 
that  the  Boston  left  Montevideo  to-day,  and  Walker 
and  his  ships  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads  yesterday 
for  Brazil. 

"  Saturday  Night.— The  President's  message,  at 
least  the  portion  of  it  about  Chile,  is  published  here 
to-day,  having  been  wired  through,  and  Mr.  Matta, 
the  Chilean  Secretary  of  State,  has  sent  a  most  insult 
ing  message  to  their  minister  in  Washington  to  be 
delivered  to  the  State  Department.  He  says,  in  so 
many  words,  that  Egan  and  Schley  have  lied  all  the 
way  through,  and  that  President  Harrison  has  know 
ingly  used  false  information  in  his  message  to  Con 
gress.  And  all  this  is  given  to  the  press  here  before  it 
reaches  Washington.  I  don't  see  how  Mr.  Harrison 
can  help  sending  a  fleet  down  here  to  teach  these 
people  manners.  Among  other  things  Mr.  Matta  says, 
in  relation  to  the  Baltimore  matter,  that  Chile  is  pre 
pared  to  administer  justice  without  the  advice  or  in 
terference  of  the  United  States.  No  doubt  there  will 
be  great  excitement  when  this  is  all  published,  which 
it  probably  is  in  the  New  York  papers  to-day,  as  it  was 
all  wired  through  this  morning.  I  certainly  would  like 
to  hear  what  Mr.  Blaine  has  to  say  in  reply. 

"  Sunday,  December  ijth. — I  have  been  on  board 
the  Chilean  flagship  to-day  to  attend  a  dance,  and  was 
struck  with  the  cordial  way  in  which  all  their  officers 
came  forward  to  greet  me  and  my  officers.  Many 

265 


A  Sailor's  Log 

ladies  asked  for  introductions,  and  I  was  assured  that 
the  Yorktown  was  becoming  most  popular  on  shore, 
and  that  people  thought  very  highly  of  me.  I  took  it 
all  in  very  quietly  until  I  was  introduced  to  a  young 
woman  who  proclaimed  that  she  was  a  Yankee.  She 
proceeded  to  tell  me  what  a  splendid  man  I  was,  and 
so  different  from  Captain  Schley;  she  hated  him  and 
all  the  officers  of  the  Baltimore.  Her  cheek  and  inso 
lence  were  so  massive  that  she  staggered  me  for  a 
moment,  but  only  for  a  moment.  Then  I  said  to  her, 
very  slowly:  *  We  are  all  the  same  in  our  service;  the 
officers  of  the  Yorktown  and  the  Baltimore  are  as 
much  alike  as  eggs  in  a  basket,  and  you  must  not  say 
disagreeable  things  about  any  of  us/  She  replied  that 
she  was  ashamed  to  be  known  as  an  American,  to 
which  I  answered  that  I  did  not  think  she  would  ever 
be  recognised  as  one,  and  immediately  returned  her  to 
the  captain  of  the  ship,  who  had  introduced  her  to  me 
at  her  request,  and  then  I  left  her.  It  is  easy  to  im 
agine  how  angry  she  made  me.  .  .  .  The  feeling  to 
day  is  very  unsettled,  owing  to  Matta's  foolish  and 
insolent  letter  published  yesterday,  and  no  one  can 
tell  what  the  result  may  be. 

"  Monday,  December  iqth. — The  press  of  Valparaiso 
has  to-day  begun  publishing  the  correspondence  about 
the  Baltimore  row,  and  editorially  they  demand  satis 
faction.  They  say  we  owe  them  a  large  sum  for  stop 
ping  the  Itata  and  thus  prolonging  their  war;  that  our 
ships  and  men  acted  as  spies  for  Balmaceda;  that  our 
sailors  landed  and  raised  a  riot  in  their  streets,  that 
the  United  States  must  apologize  and  pay  a  heavy 
sum  as  indemnity,  and  that  Egan  must  be  at  once 

266 


A   Dilemma 

recalled.  They  also  published  to-day  a  story  wired 
from  Montevideo  that  the  Boston's  men  landed  there, 
fought  and  killed  some  of  the  police,  and  in  fact  held 
the  town.  I  don't  of  course,  know  how  much  truth 
there  may  be  in  all  this,  but  these  people  are  using  it 
for  all  it  is  worth.  The  trouble  seems  further  from  a 
settlement  to-day  than  at  any  previous  time. 

"  Wednesday,  December  i6th. — There  is  no  change 
in  the  situation  on  shore — still  very  bitter  and 
haughty.  We  are  coaling  ship,  to  be  ready  for  any 
thing  that  may  come.  Later. — I  am  somewhat  worried 
to-night  as  to  what  I  shall  do  in  a  matter,  small  in 
itself,  but  possibly  annoying  in  its  results.  There  is 
a  correspondent  of  a  New  York  paper  here  for  whom 
I  do  not  much  care.  Last  Thursday  he  went  to  San 
tiago  de  Chile  to  interview  President  Montt,  and  when 
he  returned  came  to  me  with  the  story  that  Montt 
wanted  to  see  me,  and  asked  that  I  would  come  to 
Santiago  for  the  purpose.  Of  course,  I  do  not  believe 
this,  nor  that  Montt  ever  sent  any  such  message,  but 
I  am  not  certain  of  it.  Such  an  invitation  ought  to 
come  through  the  United  States  minister.  This  was 
before  the  publication  of  Matta's  insolent  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  which,  with  other  things  that  have 
occurred,  has  determined  me  not  to  have  any  inter 
course  of  an  official  character  with  any  of  them  unless 
I  am  ordered  or  forced  to  do  so. 

"  Well,  to-day  Mr.  Egan  telephoned  down  from  San 
tiago  to  say  that  he  wanted  to  '  chat '  with  me  over  the 
telephone,  and  as  I  was  not  on  shore  he  asked  the  naval 
attache  to  come  aboard  and  ask  me  if  I  did  not  think 
that  I  ought,  in  view  of  the  turn  things  had  taken,  to 

267 


A  Sailor's  Log 

telegraph  Schley  at  Callao  to  come  back  here  with  the 
Baltimore,  and  would  I  come  to  Santiago  to  consult 
with  him  (Egan).  My  answer  was  that  Secretary  Tracy 
was  at  one  end  of  the  wire  and  Schley  at  the  other, 
and  I  had  no  doubt  the  Secretary  would  send  the  Bal 
timore  back  here  if  he  considered  her  presence  neces 
sary;  also  that  I  saw  no  good  reason  why  I  should 
leave  my  ship  to  consult  with  him  about  matters  over 
which  I  had  no  control  and  could  take  no  action.  I 
am  quite  determined  to  attend  to  my  own  business 
and  not  get  mixed  up  with  the  political  part  of  this 
muddle.  If  I  should  go  to  Santiago,  and  if  Montt  did 
send  me  that  message,  he  would  be  offended  if  I  de 
clined  to  call  on  him  except  in  company  with  our 
minister — which  I  undoubtedly  should  do — so  the  best 
thing  is  to  stay  where  I  am.  But  it  worries  me,  and 
I  may  have  to  give  in  and  go. 

"  The  papers  here  grow  more  and  more  insolent, 
and  I  don't  see  how  Mr.  Harrison  can  avoid  send 
ing  an  ultimatum  at  a  very  early  day.  In  the  mean 
time  the  Chileans  are  working  like  beavers  to  get  their 
ships  ready,  and  in  two  weeks  from  now  the  whole 
fleet  will  be  ready  for  service.  My  relations  with  them 
all  are  in  accordance  with  the  strictest  etiquette,  and 
will  remain  so  until  the  shooting  begins — and  even 
after. 

"  Thursday,  December  i?th. — I  had  to  go  on  shore 
to-day,  nolens  volens,  as  Mr.  Egan  must  talk  with  me 
through  the  'phone.  He  did  about  all  the  talking, 
and  I  listened.  Yesterday  he  discovered  that  they  had 
fifteen  men — ten  soldiers,  disguised  as  policemen,  and 
five  spies — around  his  house;  and  he  also  thinks  he  has 

268 


A   Plot  Suspected 

discovered  a  plot  to  burn  his  house,  by  setting  fire 
to  the  house  next  to  his,  and  thus  get  possession  of 
the  refugees  now  under  his  protection.  Five  persons 
were  arrested  as  they  left  the  Spanish  legation  in  the 
evening,  and  one  of  them,  ex-President  of  Ecuador,  was 
detained  several  hours  in  the  common  jail.  Egan  is 
much  excited,  evidently  expects  trouble,  and,  I  think, 
rather  hopes  to  see  it,  but  I  can't  join  him  in  that. 

"  The  afternoon  papers  publish  a  telegram  from 
San  Francisco,  saying  that  the  San  Francisco  has 
sailed  with  sealed  orders,  probably  for  Chile.  I  shall 
be  glad  when  the  admiral  arrives,  as  I  am  not  in  the 
least  pleased  with  the  present  outlook  here. 

"  After  I  had  done  talking  with  Mr.  Egan  I  went 
for  a  walk,  and  was  scowled  at  by  no  end  of  cutthroat- 
looking  chaps." 

On  Friday,  December  i8th,  came  a  long  cipher 
cable  from  the  Department,  which  required  four  hours 
for  its  translation.  The  contents  were  not  of  the  most 
peaceful  nature.  My  reply  gave  the  information 
wanted  in  something  like  two  hundred  words.  It  took 
me  all  night  to  put  it  into  cipher. 


269 


CHAPTER    XXII 

STRAINED    RELATIONS 

ON  the  following  morning  the  Valparaiso  papers 
said  the  trouble  between  the  two  countries  was  about 
settled;  trjat  there  would  be  no  war,  and  that  we  had 
found  out  that  Chile  was  in  the  right  all  the  time.  If 
the  editors  had  seen  the  message  I  had  received  and 
my  reply  I  think  they  would  have  changed  their  minds 
somewhat.  Press  reports  from  the  United  States 
published  the  same  morning  indicated  great  activity 
in  the  Navy  Department.  One  of  the  papers  had,  in 
large  headlines,  "  What  we  may  expect  when  the  Bos 
ton  arrives."  The  article  then  went  on  to  state  that 
she  had  landed  ninety-five  men  on  liberty  in  Monte 
video,  and  ninety  of  them  were  arrested.  I  felt  sure 
that  the  Boston's  men  were  not  in  any  such  condition 
as  this  indicated,  and  I  was  confident  at  the  same  time 
that  the  article  and  many  more  like  it  were  meant  to 
influence  public  opinion  against  us  and  prepare  them 
for  more  riots  and  bloodshed. 

Monday,  December  2ist,  brought  me  a  telegram 
to  keep  my  ship  filled  up  with  coal,  which  led  me  to 
wonder  if  they  regarded  me  at  the  Department  as  some 
kind  of  an  idiot.  Of  course  I  was  full  of  coal  and  every 
thing  else  I  should  need  when  the  time  for  action  came. 

270 


A   Curious   Christmas 

All  my  plans  were  made  down  to  the  smallest  detail, 
and  my  mind  made  up  as  to  what  I  would  do  under  cer 
tain  conditions.  The  head  of  the  house  of  Grace  & 
Company  must  have  had  some  serious  telegram  from 
New  York  on  this  day,  as  he  said  to  me  in  the  after 
noon  that  things  looked  bad  for  a  settlement.  Mr. 
Egan  'phoned  me  in  the  evening  that  his  son  had  been 
arrested  at  Santiago  the  previous  day  as  he  came  out 
of  the  legation,  and  later  two  other  persons  had  been 
arrested  in  the  same  way  and  held  for  two  hours  or 
more.  The  situation  was  becoming  very  critical,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  authorities  seemed  like  madness  to 
me — almost  as  if  they  intended  to  force  us  into  war. 
I  was  quite  ready  for  it  if  they  said  the  word. 

I  was  determined  to  meet  the  Chileans  halfway  in 
any  proposition  they  had  to  make,  and  therefore,  when 
I  received  an  invitation  for  a  Christmas  tree,  I  accepted 
it  and  presented  myself  at  the  proper  hour.  It  was 
pleasant  to  see  some  fifty-odd  children  enjoy  them 
selves,  but  the  grown  people  were  as  nasty  a  lot  as  I 
ever  met.  I  was  introduced  to  them  all  and  tried  to 
talk  to  them,  but  one  after  another  had  something  dis 
agreeable  to  say  about  the  United  States.  One  and 
all  of  them  hated  the  officers  of  our  navy  who  had  been 
there  before  us,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  me 
so.  My  visit  was  cut  very  short,  and  I  returned  to  my 
ship  feeling  as  no  Christian  ought  to  feel  on  Christ 
mas  eve. 

Our  surroundings  naturally  drew  all  of  us  closer 
together,  and  I  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
wardroom  officers  to  take  my  Christmas  dinner  with 
them.  They  had  also,  as  their  guests,  the  consul  and 

271 


A  Sailor's  Log , 

several  of  our  countrymen  from  shore.  We  had  a 
charming  dinner  over  "  sweethearts  and  wives,"  and 
forgot  for  the  moment  the  troubles  threatening  us. 
The  following  from  my  journal  gives  an  accurate  ac 
count  of  incidents  at  this  time: 

"  Events  crowd  on  rapidly  now,  and  our  troubles 
here  must  soon  be  settled  one  way  or  another.  The 
Boston  came  in  yesterday,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  her, 
but  to-day  she  is  ordered  north,  leaving  me  alone 
again  to  face  the  music  here.  It  is  a  great  surprise  to 
every  one.  Wiltse  signalled  me  this  afternoon  at  five 
to  repair  on  board,  which  I  at  once  did,  and  found  him 
up  to  his  eyes  in  a  cipher  telegram  which  was  too 
much  for  him.  We  soon  unravelled  it,  however,  and  it 
was,  '  Proceed  north  immediately  with  the  Boston/ 
etc.  He  will  be  off  to-morrow,  and  the  Yorktown 
will  again  hold  the  fort,  which  shows  a  gratifying  con 
fidence  in  me  on  the  part  of  the  Secretary.  I  feel  the 
weight  of  responsibility  which  rests  on  my  shoulders. 
The  Boston  will  be  off  to-morrow,  and  in  the  mean 
time  I  have  information  that  a  riot  is  threatened  here, 
and  that  two  regiments  of  artillery  came  here  to-day 
from  Santiago.  Of  course,  they  would  not  have  sent 
them  unless  they  feared  another  row,  and  if  it  comes  my 
duty  will  be  a  hard  one.  There  will  be  only  two  ships 
here,  one  French  and  one  American — except,  of  course, 
the  vessels  of  the  Chilean  fleet,  which  can  not  be 
counted  on  at  such  a  time.  If  trouble  comes,  the  Eng 
lish  and  Germans  here  will  call  on  us  for  protection, 
and  I  shall  have  them  on  my  hands  as  well  as  our  own 
people.  So  I  am  not  yachting  in  the  real  sense  of  the 
word. 

272 


Sensational  Journalism 

"  Saturday  Night,  December  26th. — The  Boston  has 
gone,  and  we  are  once  more  the  only  Yankee  here. 
Wiltse  called  on  most  of  the  officials,  and  the  news 
papers  give  him  a  good  send  off.  One  paper  says 
that  his  politeness,  following  so  soon  on  the  courteous 
conduct  of  '  Sefior '  Evans,  commanding  the  York- 
town,  had  gone  far  toward  removing  the  bad  impres 
sion  made  by  the  Baltimore.  Another  paper  copies 
a  long  article  from  the  London  Times,  showing  how 
easily  the  Chilean  navy  could  clean  us  up,  capture 
San  Francisco,  and  do  no  end  of  awful  things.  Still 
another  says  that  the  Chicago,  Concord,  and  Wil 
mington  will  soon  be  here,  and  when  they  have  gone 
north  the  people  of  Valparaiso  will  have  had  two 
thirds  of  the  Yankee  navy  passed  in  review.  Such 
insolence! 

"  Mr.  Egan  'phoned  me  to-day  that  he  had  not 
attended  the  inauguration  of  President  Montt.  I  sup 
pose  the  press  will  make  all  sorts  of  a  row  over  that. 
I  am  sure  that  if  he  had  gone  he  would  have  been 
insulted,  and  it  is  likely  that  some  attempt  on  his 
legation  would  have  been  made  in  his  absence.  His 
position  and  that  of  the  United  States  is  much 
strengthened  by  an  incident  which  occurred  day  be 
fore  yesterday,  the  arrest  of  General  Velasquez.  He 
was  Secretary  of  War  under  Balmaceda,  and  about 
two  months  before  the  collapse  of  that  government 
was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  had  his  leg  broken.  He 
had  been  arrested  by  the  Junta  government  and  bailed 
for  ten  thousand  dollars,  but  day  before  yesterday  was 
again  arrested,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  organizing  a 
revolution,  because  arms  were  found  in  his  house.  A 

273 


A  Sailor's  Log 

mob  gathered  and  demanded  his  blood,  but  enough  of  a 
guard  was  on  hand  to  drag  him  away  and  place  him 
in  confinement  on  board  the  Magallanes,  one  of  their 
receiving  ships.  I  am  told  to-day  that  he  was  shot  to 
death  on  board  that  vessel  at  midnight  last  night,  and 
the  authorities  do  not  deny  it,  but  say  that  if  he  has 
not  been  killed  he  will  be,  and  that  his  friends  will 
never  know  how  or  when.  Now  this  is  a  fine  prospect 
for  the  gentlemen  who  are  refugeed  in  the  legation  at 
Santiago!  If  they  are  given  up,  every  one  will  un 
doubtedly  be  killed,  and  the  nations  of  the  earth  will 
justly  hold  us  responsible.  While  I  do  not  believe  in 
the  right  of  asylum,  and  would  not  permit  our  lega 
tions  to  be  used  for  that  purpose,  still,  having  once 
received  these  men,  we  must  stand  by  them  even  if  it 
leads  to  war.  Just  at  this  point  I  was  called  on  deck 
by  some  quick  volleys  fired  on  shore  near  us,  followed 
by  a  few  straggling  shots.  One  of  these  fine  nights 
they  will  send  some  of  their  bullets  over  us,  and  then 
they  will  have  a  surprise  party. 

"  Sunday  Night. — I  found  out  this  afternoon  in  a 
curious  way  about  the  firing  last  night.  It  was  con 
tinued  at  intervals  all  night.  This  morning  early  the 
Esmeralda  came  in  with  colours  at  half  mast,  having 
on  board  the  fragments  of  patriots  killed  at  Iquiqui  and 
Caldera  Bay.  She  was  draped  in  black,  and  looked 
as  if  she  had  not  been  scrubbed  for  a  year — quite  the 
most  grief-stricken  craft  I  ever  saw.  Just  at  four 
o'clock  a  boat  came  to  us  from  the  senior  officer  afloat 
to  ask  us  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies  afloat  to 
morrow,  when  they  are  going  to  bury  the  remains  of 
some  naval  patriots.  So  little  could  be  made  out  of 

274 


A   Doubtful   Story 

what  the  young  officer  was  trying  to  tell  us  that  I 
took  my  boat  and  went  on  board  the  Cochran  to  get 
things  straight.  Captain  Vial,  who  commands  her, 
.  .  .  when  I  assured  him  that  we  should  be  glad  to 
join  in  honouring  their  dead,  did  not  know  where  to 
put  me.  He  told  me  he  was  much  gratified  by  my 
acceptance,  but  had  feared  that  I  would  decline  be 
cause  these  officers  had  been  killed  during  the  war. 
In  other  words,  we  were  on  the  Balmaceda  side,  and 
would  not  even  go  to  the  funeral  of  the  other  party. 
I  was  not  to  be  caught  by  such  stupid  trash.  I  told 
him  that  in  my  country  we  knew  no  difference  among 
Chileans,  alive  or  dead;  that  we  never  in  any  case  car 
ried  our  feelings  beyond  the  moment  of  dissolution, 
etc.  When  I  asked  him  what  the  firing  was  about  last 
night,  he  said  the  men  in  the  naval  battery  on  shore 
thought  some  smuggling  was  going  on  and  fired,  and 
some  soldiers  in  adjoining  works,  to  give  the  idea  that 
they  were  ready,  took  it  up,  and  hence  the  row. 
While  he  was  telling  me  this  plausible  yarn  I  was  ob 
serving  his  decks  and  wondering  if  the  smuggling 
racket  would  account  for  all  the  ammunition  I  saw 
piled  ready  for  use.  The  truth  is,  they  expected  an 
attack,  and  no  doubt  shot  some  of  the  suspects  just 
to  keep  their  hands  in.  I  shall  go  to  their  wake  to 
morrow,  as  I  told  Captain  Vial,  on  the  water;  but, 
as  I  also  told  him,  I  will  not  allow  one  of  my  men  to 
land. 

"  No  news  from  Santiago  to-day,  except  that  Montt 
was  inaugurated  and  that  the  Chambers  could  not 
agree  on  a  Cabinet,  which  is  unfortunate,  as  the  present 
lot  will  have  to  hold  over,  and  they  will  continue  to 

275 


A  Sailor's  Log 

menace  our  legation  and  thus  make  matters  worse. 
As  to  Egan,  he  has  done  only  what  he  was  instructed 
to  do  from  Washington,  and  he  has  done  it  capitally 
well.  The  Chilean  Secretary  of  State  has  found  him 
self  outclassed  every  time  he  has  tackled  the  little  Irish 
man,  who  really  writes  clearly,  forcibly,  and  beautifully, 
and  so  far  they  have  not  scored  one  point  against  him. 
"  The  whole  diplomatic  question  in  dispute  is  a 
simple  one:  I.  'The  right  of  asylum  in  foreign  lega 
tions/  2.  '  Salvo  conducto,  for  such  refugees,  to  a 
neutral  territory.'  In  1866,  during  a  revolution  in 
Peru,  the  Chilean  Government  directed  its  minister 
in  that  country  to  insist  on  both  principles,  and  they 
were  enforced,  and  salvo  conducto  furnished  to  neu 
tral  territory.  In  1888,  at  a  Congress  of  the  South 
American  Republics,  the  Chilean  representative  pre 
sented  and  had  embodied  in  a  treaty,  which  was  after 
ward  ratified  by  all,  a  clause  that  refugees  should  be 
protected  when  sheltered  in  foreign  legations,  and 
charged  only  with  political  offences;  and  that  salvo 
conducto  should  be  demanded  and  furnished  all  such 
refugees,  reserving  to  the  Government  in  whose  ter 
ritory  the  legation  is  located  the  right  to  demand 
the  speedy  removal  of  the  parties  from  its  territory. 
Thus  this  practice  became  international  law  as  far  as 
the  parties  to  the  treaty  are  concerned,  but  the  Junta 
government,  through  Mr.  Matta,  now  says  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Chile  has  changed.  Mr.  Egan  replies  that 
local  changes  and  edicts  of  Chile  can  not  change 
international  law  and  practice.  The  Chileans  are 
knocked  out  and  refuse  to  continue  the  discussion. 
Having  admitted  his  right  to  give  them  asylum,  their 

276 


War  Talk 

present  attitude  is  absurd,  and  only  makes  a  perma 
nent  prison  of  the  legation;  the  men  would  undoubt 
edly  be  killed  the  moment  they  were  turned  out. 

"  Monday,  P.  M. — We  helped  to  bury  the  patriots 
to-day,  or  rather  we  escorted  them  to  the  shore  from 
the  Esmeralda,  and  then  returned  to  the  ship.  Of 
course,  I  would  not  go  on  shore  for  the  funeral,  but 
I  did  go  later  to  call  on  the  senior  officer  in  command 
of  the  naval  station,  to  get  what  news  I  could  out  of 
him,  and  was  moderately  successful.  He  let  it  out  that 
they  would  send  four  of  their  vessels  to  Iquiqui,  some 
time  in  January,  at  the  suggestion  of  President  Montt. 
Of  course,  their  idea  is  to  defend  that  place  against 
us  and  rely  on  the  rest  of  the  fleet  and  the  forts  to 
hold  Valparaiso.  He  had  no  idea  of  the  value  of  the 
information  he  was  giving  me,  or  he  would  not  have 
talked  so  freely.  Afterward  he  said  many  things  which 
lead  me  to  believe  that  they  expect  an  attack  every 
night,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  see  it  any  hour. 

"  When  I  left  him  I  met  the  head  of  the  house  of 
Grace  and  Company,  and  he  showed  me  a  long  telegram 
from  W.  R.  Grace,  dated  in  Washington  yesterday,  of 
the  most  alarming  character.  Grace  has  been  in  Wash 
ington  for  the  past  ten  days  trying  to  convince  Secretary 
Elaine  that  we  must  not  have  war.  He  wires  that  Har 
rison  is  for  war,  that  the  Navy  Department  is  making 
every  preparation  for  war,  and  that  Elaine,  while  in 
favour  of  war  under  certain  conditions  only,  can  not 
stem  the  tide,  and  that  unless  Chile  makes  ample  apol 
ogy  at  once  nothing  can  prevent  war.  The  message 
is  to  Grace's  business  house,  and  therefore  can  be  relied 
on  as  giving  his  best  information;  and  he  is  a  warm 
19  277 


A  Sailor's  Log 

personal  friend  of  Mr.  Elaine.  Taking  all  this  into 
consideration,  the  crew  of  the  Yorktown  will  sleep  at 
the  loaded  guns  to-night,  and  every  night  until  I  get 
some  better  news.  While  I  can  not  deny  to  myself 
that  things  are  on  the  '  ragged  edge/  so  to  speak,  yet 
I  can  not  conceive  of  the  Chileans  being  stupid  enough 
to  allow  it  to  come  to  blows — it  seems  incredible  folly. 
And  yet  it  may  come.  News  from  Santiago  to-day  is 
to  the  effect  that  President  Montt  is  still  unable  to 
form  a  Cabinet.  If  this  condition  continues  much 
longer,  it  alone  will  bring  revolution. 

"  Tuesday,  p.  M. — After  the  alarming  telegram  I 
saw  yesterday  I  went  on  shore  again  to-day  and  found 
that  the  English  minister  had  long  messages  from  his 
Government,  which  he  had  shown  to  Mr.  Egan,  and 
here  again  I  was  much  surprised.  The  despatches  say, 
in  plain  language,  that  the  English  Government  con 
siders  that  war  between  the  United  States  and  Chile 
is  inevitable;  and  yet  I  have  not  one  word  from  the 
Department  to  put  me  on  my  guard.  I  certainly  do 
not  understand  it  in  the  least. 

"  Valparaiso,  Chile,  December  30th. — The  steamer 
has  just  gone  out.  Every  one  that  goes  I  hope  may 
be  the  last  until, we  go.  While  I  was  ashore,  walking 
up  the  street  with  Fred  May,  three  rotas,  the  most 
villainous-looking  scoundrels  I  ever  saw,  crossed  over 
and  followed  us  some  distance,  muttering  about 
'  damned  Yankees/  I  saw  Fred  get  a  fresh  grip  on 
his  stick,  and  I  did  the  same,  and,  keeping  one  eye  over 
my  shoulder,  just  as  they  were  close  behind  us  we  sud 
denly  turned  and  walked  through  them,  as  it  were, 
before  they  had  time  to  do  anything.  We  were  in  the 

278 


A   New   Year 

main  street  of  the  town,  otherwise  I  have  no  doubt 
they  would  have  attacked  us,  and  if  they  had  we  surely 
would  have  pounded  the  life  out  of  two  of  them  at 
least. 

"  There  is  a  rumour  to-day  on  the  street  that  Chile 
has  offered  thirty  thousand  dollars  as  a  settlement  of 
the  Baltimore  affair,  but  I  can  not  learn  that  it  is  true. 

"December  jist,  Night. — There  is  to  be  a  row  at  mid 
night  and  I  have  been  asked  to  join  in  it,  but  declined. 
The  Chileans  are  going  to  fire  twenty-one  guns  and 
burn  fireworks  to  usher  in  the  new  year,  which  seems  an 
odd  thing  to  do,  but  these  are  odd  people.  The  war  feel 
ing  is  about  the  same  to-day,  and  the  papers  publish  a 
telegram  in  which  Admiral  Brown  is  made  to  say  that 
there  will  be  no  war  with  Chile,  and  that  he  is  not  com 
ing  back  with  the  San  Francisco;  and,  further,  that  the 
affair  of  the  Baltimore  will  be  submitted  to  arbitration, 
which  seems  too  silly  to  notice.  When  the  United 
States  is  willing  to  submit  the  question  of  the  murder 
of  her  sailors  in  uniform  to  arbitration,  I  must  look  for 
other  employment — the  navy  won't  any  longer  suit 
me.  They  can  arbitrate  '  till  the  cows  come  home ' 
about  the  people  in  the  legation  at  Santiago,  but  if  they 
ever  hint  at  such  a  thing  about  the  Baltimore's  men, 
then  I  think  the  voice  of  the  American  people  will  be 
heard  in  no  uncertain  tones. 

"  January  j,  1892. — Just  before  midnight  last 
night  we  ordered  champagne,  and  each  one  stood  with 
his  full  glass  until  the  bell  struck,  when  we  all  drank 
to  our  friends  at  home  a  '  happy  New  Year/  Then  we 
went  on  deck,  whence  we  could  hear  and  see  the 
Chileans  making  their  row.  The  whole  city  of  Val- 

279 


A  Sailor's  Log 

paraiso  was  red  and  green  with  lights,  presenting  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  sights  imaginable. 

"  The  Chilean  vessels  added  to  the  effect  by  flashing 
their  electric  lights  in  every  direction,  and  everything 
that  could  make  a  noise  was  doing  its  best,  but  not  a 
sound  came  from  the  Yorktown  except  the  low  mur 
murs  of  the  men  as  they  stood  around  the  guns.  It 
was  an  impressive  sight." 

As  the  Cochran  fired  the  first  gun  of  her  salute  she 
sent  off  a  flight  of  rockets;  one  of  them,  a  war  rocket, 
just  missed  the  Yorktown.  We  were  in  plain  view  on 
account  of  the  beams  of  the  numerous  search  lights 
from  the  Chilean  war  vessels,  and  it  seemed  that  the 
rocket  must  have  been  purposely  aimed  at  us;  but  there 
was  room  for  doubt,  and  as  it  had  not  struck  us  I 
assumed  that  it  was  an  accident.  I  at  once  hoisted 
a  large  American  flag  and  turned  both  my  search 
lights  on  it,  so  that  if  any  one  really  wanted  to  hit 
me  he  could  know  just  where  I  was.  I  was  deter 
mined,  if  trouble  came,  there  should  be  no  ground 
for  saying  we  had  been  accidentally  struck  in  the 
dark.  When  the  search  lights,  a  few  moments  later, 
again  lighted  us  up,  they  showed  the  crew  of  the 
Yorktown  standing  at  their  quarters  and  the  guns  all 
ready  for  business.  The  second  war  rocket  from  the 
Cochran  went  through  the  rigging  of  a  German 
steamer  some  distance  away  from  us,  but  no  more  came 
our  way.  I  again  quote  from  my  journal: 

"  January  i,  1892. — The  telegrams  in  the  morning 
papers  from  Washington  are  most  warlike.  Before  I 
was  through  with  my  breakfast  a  long  cipher  message 
came  from  the  Secretary,  directing  me  to  keep  him 

280 


Chilean  Justice 

posted  on  all  movements  of  Chilean  warships;  and  one 
from  the  President,  to  proceed  to  Santiago  and  confer 
with  our  minister,  ascertain  present  situation,  and  espe 
cially  the  sentiment  of  Chile  toward  the  United  States. 
It  is  extraordinary  to  send  a  naval  officer  to  find  out  the 
sentiment  of  the  country,  and  I  have  a  job  on  my  hands. 
The  responsibility  of  the  position  almost  frightens  me. 
I  could  wire  back  a  message  to-morrow  that  would 
cause  a  declaration  of  war  in  twenty-four  hours.  I 
shall  leave  for  Santiago  in  the  morning  and  spend  two 
days  there,  getting  such  information  as  I  can,  and  look 
ing  at  the  actual  condition  of  things,  that  I  may  give 
the  President  such  an  answer  as  will  enable  him  to  lay 
the  matter  before  Congress.  Of  course,  I  shall  be  un 
comfortable  and  much  worried  all  the  time  I  am  away, 
but  that  is  what  I  am  paid  for. 

"  Later. — This  afternoon  the  most  important  part  of 
the  finding  in  the  Baltimore  case  is  published.  The 
judge  finds  that  two  Chileans  are  implicated;  that  the 
row  was  begun  by  the  Baltimore's  men,  who  were 
drunk,  and  that  their  testimony  was  of  no  value;  that 
Reagan  was  killed  by  a  revolver  shot  from  some  party 
unknown.  He  does  not  seem  to  see  the  absurdity  of 
two  Chileans  having  stabbed  over  a  dozen  men  in  a 
fight  which  went  on  at  the  same  time  in  half  a  dozen 
different  places  covering  a  space  of  more  than  half  a 
mile.  I  am  curious  to  know  what  Mr.  Blaine  will  say 
when  he  gets  the  news. 

"  Monday,  January  4th. — Glad  to  get  to  the  little 
ship  once  more  last  night  at  midnight.  I  have  been 
making  out  a  cipher  message  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  words  to  the  Secretary,  and  it  consumed 

281 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  entire  day,  so  that  I  have  not  been  on  shore;  but 
the  message  has  gone,  and  by  now  the  Secretary  and 
probably  the  President  knows  just  what  I  think  of 
the  situation  at  Santiago.  My  message  gave  the  de 
cision  in  the  Baltimore  case  and  some  news  of  the 
Chilean  navy,  and  then  I  said  substantially  that  the 
United  States  legation  at  Santiago,  containing  many 
refugees,  was  virtually  a  prison  watched  by  uniformed 
police  and  spies  in  plain  clothes — the  latter  removed 
during  my  visit.  General  sentiment  of  Santiago  and 
Valparaiso  brutally  hostile  to  the  United  States.  New 
Chilean  Secretary  of  State  expresses  friendship,  and 
hopes  matters  will  be  promptly  arranged.  ...  I  was 
too  anxious  and  full  of  business  to  enjoy  the  trip.  .  .  . 

"  Santiago  is  a  large,  straggling  city  in  a  great  dust- 
covered  plain  surrounded  by  brown  mountains  topped 
with  snow.  The  minister  met  me  at  the  station,  and 
we  drove  a  mile  or  so  through  very  rough  streets  to 
a  very  dirty  hotel.  I  started  with  Mr.  Egan  and  the 
three  officers  who  were  with  me,  to  walk  to  the  lega 
tion,  a  distance  of  about  ten  blocks,  and  I  was  amused 
at  the  scowls  the  party  received  from  the  people  on 
the  way.  When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  legation  I 
counted  eight  uniformed  police  and  five  of  the  worst- 
looking  devils  of  rotas  in  plain  clothes  that  I  have  ever 
gazed  on,  all  guarding  the  place.  I  walked  around, 
counted  these  brutes,  and  looked  them  over,  and  they 
were  very  uncomfortable  under  the  scrutiny.  In  the 
afternoon  the  spies  were  withdrawn,  leaving  only  the 
police  in  uniform. 

"  After  I  had  paid  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Egan  I  was 
introduced  to  the  party  of  refugees,  and  was  really 

282 


The   Sacking   of  Santiago 

impressed  with  the  scene.  Our  minister,  an  Irish 
agitator  representing  a  great  Government,  and  under 
his  protection  many  of  the  finest  men  of  Chile,  blue- 
blooded  and  aristocratic,  treating  Mrs.  Egan  like  a 
queen,  and  looking  to  the  self-made,  brave  little  Irish 
man  for  their  lives.  The  whole  thing  was  impressive 
and  curious.  I  managed  to  say  a  few  words  to  each  of 
them,  but  with  General  Gana,  formerly  Secretary  of 
War,  I  had  a  long  conversation;  his  French  was  awful, 
but  perhaps  he  thought  the  same  of  mine.  He  is  sev 
enty  years  old,  and  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Admiral 
Dahlgren,  for  whose  memory  he  entertains  a  high  re 
gard.  In  fact,  he  considers  all  Americans  superior 
people.  He  was  for  many  years  general  of  the  army, 
and  gave  his  whole  life  to  the  service  of  his  country; 
and  yet  they  would  tear  him  to  pieces  were  it  not  that 
the  American  flag  protects  him. 

"  I  also  had  some  talk  with  Senor  McKenna,  who 
was  President  of  the  Balmaceda  Senate,  a  most  thor 
oughbred,  delicate-looking  gentleman.  He  is  enor 
mously  wealthy.  His  position  and  surroundings  are 
most  irksome,  and  the  confinement  is  telling  on  his 
health.  It  was  pathetic  when  he  told  me  that  if  his 
countrymen  did  not  kill  him  he  would  make  his  home 
in  North  America,  where  he  could  rear  his  children  with 
the  advantages  of  civilization." 

The  sacking  of  Santiago  by  the  rebels  after  its  sur 
render  probably  has  no  parallel  in  history  for  wanton 
waste  and  destruction.  The  houses  to  be  sacked  were 
all  placed  on  a  list,  which  was  given  to  a  regiment  of 
half-breeds  from  the  mining  districts,  and  they  were 
ordered  to  do  the  job.  I  can  certify  from  personal  ob- 

283 


A  Sailor's  Log 

servation  that  they  did  their  work  very  thoroughly.  I 
stood  in  front  of  what  had  been  the  beautiful  home  of 
Mr.  John  McKenna,  and  wondered  how  human  beings 
could  be  found  to  do  such  work.  Every  article  of 
value  had  been  stolen  or  destroyed,  and  the  floors  and 
woodwork,  even  to  the  window  casings,  torn  up  and 
broken  to  pieces  or  carried  away.  It  was  a  fearful 
picture  of  what  civil  war  might  mean  at  its  worst.  I 
again  quote  from  my  journal: 

"  On  Sunday  Mr.  Egan  gave  me  a  breakfast  at 
Santa  Lucia,  a  rock  which  rises  some  hundreds  of  feet 
in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  on  top  of  which  is  a  fair 
restaurant,  and  whence  the  view  is  fine.  The  party 
was  mixed,  which  for  my  purpose  suited  very  well, 
and  I  got  much  valuable  information  from  them,  espe 
cially  from  a  Chilean  army  officer,  who  had  been  a 
junior  officer  in  the  British  army.  He  resigned,  to 
find  employment  about  Iquiqui,  where  he  was  when 
the  war  came,  when,  believing  the  rebels  to  be  right, 
he  joined  them,  fought  well,  and  after  the  fall  of  Bal- 
maceda  was  promoted  and  is  now  on  duty  at  Santiago. 
I  got  a  lot  of  information  from  him.  When  the  Balti 
more  row  took  place  he  was  sent  down  to  Valparaiso 
to  investigate  the  matter  privately  and  report  to  the 
authorities  in  Santiago.  He  was  soon  satisfied  that  the 
police  shot  Reagan,  but  in  order  to  decide  the  point 
fully  he  demanded  such  orders  as  would  compel  the 
authorities  here  to  give  him  the  witnesses  he  wanted. 
He  went  to  Santiago  and  reported  his  conviction  that 
the  police  had  done  the  killing,  for  which  the  authori 
ties  jumped  on  him  and  '  gave  him  the  devil/  and 
would  not  let  him  return  here.  Now  he  has  given  them 

284 


Startling   Information 

notice  that  if  they  have  any  trouble  with  the  United 
States  he  will  leave  their  service.  The  day  we  left  San 
tiago  the  minister  saw  me  off,  and  we  had  the  same 
salute  of  scowls  from  the  people.  On  my  way  to  San 
tiago  I  am  sure  I  was  guarded  by  two  very  nice-looking 
officers  in  uniform,  who  observed  my  every  movement, 
and  on  my  way  down  I  had  a  similar  escort,  probably 
sent  by  the  authorities  to  see  that  no  harm  was 
done  me. 

"  January  $th. — To-day  I  have  been  on  shore  for  an 
hour  and  saw  the  consul's  son,  who  has  come  out  as 
secretary  of  legation.  He  left  Washington  on  Decem 
ber  loth,  and  tells  me  that  the  war  talk  there  was  very 
strong — that  Harrison  was  wild  over  the  Baltimore 
matter,  and  it  was  all  Elaine  could  do  to  hold  him  back. 
I  don't  wonder.  To-night  I  have  been  reading  up  the 
papers,  and  find  the  tone  of  our  Administration  very 
dignified,  though  savage.  I  don't  see  how  war  can  now 
be  avoided.  Sorry  to  see  that  Jack  Philip  was  detached 
from  the  Atlanta  if  she  is  to  come  here;  but  he  will 
have  a  beautiful  command  in  the  New  York,  and  do  the 
service  credit  anywhere. 

"  January  6th. — This  afternoon  I  went  for  a  few 
minutes  to  a  grand  ball  on  board  the  Cochran,  and 
when  I  came  back  found  awaiting  me  a  half-tipsy  chap 
who  had  come  to  tell  me,  confidentially,  that  my  ship 
was  to  be  attacked  to-night  or  to-morrow  night  by 
the  Chileans,  and  he  warned  me  to  make  every  prepara 
tion,  as  they  were  in  earnest,  and  would  begin  the 
war  with  the  United  States  by  sinking  or  capturing 
the  Yorktown.  Nice  information  for  a  fellow  to  sleep 
on!  The  chap  said  he  had  been  well  treated  by  the 

285 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Americans  and  would  stand  by  them.  Of  course,  I 
don't  place  much  confidence  in  the  story,  but  I  am 
on  my  guard  all  the  same,  and  to-night  we  have  steam 
up  and  the  men  sleeping  at  the  guns  among  the  am 
munition. 

"  The  captain  of  the  Cochran  has  just  sent  an 
officer  on  board  to  say  that  he  will  fire  a  salute  of 
twenty-one  guns  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  that 
will  be  the  anniversary  of  their  revolt.  Such  idiots! 
I  don't  think  I  shall  sleep  much  este  noche. 

"  January  8th. — The  Chileans  certainly  did  cele 
brate  night  before  last,  to  the  annoyance  of  all  quietly 
disposed  persons.  The  harbour  was  ablaze  and  salutes 
were  fired  until  midnight,  and  I  was  not  certain  that 
they  would  not  take  a  shy  at  us,  so  I  watched  them 
closely,  and  am  thankful  that  nothing  unpleasant  hap 
pened.  I  am  equally  sorry  that  something  very  un 
pleasant  did  happen  to-day — nothing  less  than  the  ston 
ing  of  my  gig  while  she  was  lying  off  the  landing-place, 
waiting  to  bring  me  off.  When  I  landed  I  noticed  that 
the  people  scowled  at  me  rather  more  than  usual,  but  it 
passed  out  of  my  mind  until  a  party  of  young  fellows 
on  a  street  car  made  themselves  offensive. 

"  After  I  had  attended  to  my  business  I  came  down 
and  called  my  boat  in,  and  while  waiting  for  her  to  get 
alongside  I  became  aware  that  there  was  a  crowd  of 
rather  larger  proportions  than  usual  on  the  mole,  and 
they  seemed  excited  by  something.  Just  as  I  stepped 
into  my  boat  one  of  them  advanced  quickly  toward  me, 
and  the  cockswain  said,  l  Look  out  for  that  fellow,  sir! ' 
I  said,  '  He  won't  trouble  me,'  stepped  into  the  boat, 
and  shoved  off,  and  then  discovered  that  the  crew  were 

286 


Reading  the   Riot  Act 

all  fighting  mad.  On  inquiry  I  learned  that  a  lot  of 
toughs  had  amused  themselves  by  throwing  stones  at 
the  boat  and  daring  the  men  to  come  on  shore.  I  was 
hot  all  over,  and  without  going  to  my  own  ship  I  pulled 
straight  for  the  Cochran,  whose  captain,  Vial,  is  senior 
officer  in  command  of  the  city  as  well  as  the  fleet.  I 
could  hardly  hold  myself  down  while  I  told  him  of  it; 
but  I  did,  and  then  read  him  the  riot  act.  I  demanded 
of  him  immediate  and  efficient  protection  by  the  police, 
and  served  notice  on  him,  then  and  there,  that  a  repe 
tition  of  the  offence  would  be  sufficient  evidence  that 
they  could  not  control  their  people,  and  that  I  should 
arm  my  boats  and  shoot  any  and  every  man  who  in 
sulted  me  or  my  men  or  my  flag  in  any  way.  Vial  was 
greatly  shocked,  or  pretended  to  be,  turned  as  white 
as  a  sheet — my  manner  was  not  very  mild,  I  fancy — 
swore  and  damned  the  discharged  soldiers,  and  said 
they  were  doing  all  they  could  to  involve  the  country 
in  war  with  the  United  States,  while  he  and  the  navy 
were  determined  that  it  should  not  be;  and  then,  in 
his  excitement,  he  gave  away  something  I  am  sure  he 
was  very  sorry  for:  he  said,  '  We  have  just  discovered 
to-day  a  plot  to  attack  the  American  legation  at  San 
tiago,  and  we  have  the  men  under  arrest/  What  a 
set  of  savages  we  have  to  deal  with!  After  a  few  mo 
ments  Captain  Vial  hastened  on  shore  to  jump  the 
police,  assuring  me  that  I  should  have  an  ample  apol 
ogy  to-morrow,  and  assurances  of  protection.  Of 
course,  I  shall  wire  the  affair  to  the  Department  after 
I  have  settled  it,  but  in  the  mildest  way  I  can.  I  don't 
want  to  be  sensational,  and  I  hope  the  papers  won't 
get  hold  of  it. 

287 


A  Sailor's  Log 

"  If  they  bother  us  again  I  shall  consider  that  the 
time  has  come  to  shoot.  The  anxiety  of  the  position 
here  is  very  great;  it  interferes  with  my  sleep,  and  is 
telling  on  my  temper. 

"  Valparaiso,  January  pth. — Lots  of  things  have 
happened  since  last  night.  Just  at  midnight  I  heard  a 
sharp  hail,  '  Boat  ahoy ! '  and  the  answer,  '  American 
consul/  I  was  out  in  a  minute,  and  there  the  consul 
was,  as  large  as  life,  and  evidently  with  something  im 
portant  on  his  mind.  When  we  reached  the  cabin  he 
said  Mr.  Egan  had  just  telephoned  to  ask  me  to  have 
my  steam  launch  at  a  certain  point  about  five  miles 
from  the  ship  at  six  sharp  this  morning,  as  he  was 
coming  unexpectedly  to  pay  me  a  visit.  Of  course, 
I  knew  what  that  meant,  and  everything  was  made 
ready,  and  at  about  2  A.  M.,  after  providing  the  consul 
with  a  shakedown,  I  went  to  bed.  We  were  up  at 
four,  had  some  coffee  and  eggs,  and  the  executive  offi 
cer  shoved  off  in  charge,  with  the  consul  to  show  him 
where  to  go,  and  half  a  dozen  revolvers,  with  car 
tridges,  etc. 

"  At  7.30  I  saw  the  boat  returning,  and  was  much 
relieved  when  she  came  alongside. 

"  The  first  man  out  was  Mr.  Egan;  then  came  Mr. 
McKenna,  formerly  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  then 
President  of  the  Chilean  Senate,  and  lately  a  refugee 
in  the  American  legation.  After  him  came  his  cousin, 
William  McKenna,  late  Governor  of  Santiago  under 
Balmaceda;  and  then  their  wives  and  servants.  My 
heart  sank  into  my  boots  when  I  saw  the  women,  but 
fortunately  they  went  on  shore  afterward;  and  their 
husbands,  who  would  be  torn  to  pieces  if  they  were 

288 


The   Power   of  the   Flag 

caught,  are  now  sleeping  as  calmly  as  two  children, 
within  twelve  feet  of  me.  The  American  flag  is  a  won 
derful  thing  when  all  is  said  and  done.  Here  are  these 
two  men  with  no  claim  on  us  beyond  our  sentiment 
of  right  and  humanity,  whose  lives  have  not  been  worth 
a  nickel  for  months,  now  resting  quiet  and  secure  in 
the  midst  of  the  Chilean  fleet,  and  under  the  guns  of 
ten  heavy  forts;  and  all  because  a  small  gunboat  flying 
the  American  flag  has  them  in  charge. 

"  Other  important  things  have  happened:  Captain 
Vial  has  been  on  board  to  apologize  for  the  stoning  of 
the  gig  yesterday  and  to  assure  me  of  protection,  and 
the  English  admiral  has  arrived  in  the  Warspite. 

"  January  loth,  n  P.  M. — Just  back  from  a  confer 
ence  with  the  English  admiral  on  board  the  Warspite, 
and  more  tired  than  last  night,  but  must  write  a  few 
lines,  because  if  I  do  not  set  down  things  as  they  hap 
pen  I  shall  forget  them. 

"  Admiral  Hotham,  R.  N.,  is  disposed  to  be  very 
nice.  Mr.  Egan,  who  went  back  to  Santiago  last  night, 
wires  me  to-day  that  he  has  a  long  message  from  Mr. 
Elaine,  directing  him  to  ask  the  Chilean  Government: 
(i)  '  If  they  will  give  salvo  conducto  to  those  who  still 
remain  in  the  legation  at  Santiago  ';  and  (2)  '  Do  they 
want  to  withdraw  the  letter  of  Mr.  Matta,  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  which  was  so  insulting  to  our  Govern 
ment?  '  This  looks  to  me  very  much  as  if  it  were 
going  to  rain  in  a  few  days  in  Chile. 

"  To  comprehend  the  situation  we  must  consider 
that  Mr.  Egan  brought  the  men,  now  on  board,  with 
out  written  salvo  conducto,  but  with  the  tacit  per 
mission  of  the  authorities.  They  refused  to  give  a 

289 


A  Sailor's  Log 

written  permit,  thus  hoping  to  dodge  the  question,  but 
Mr.  Elaine  is  nailing  the  matter,  and  will  make  them 
settle  the  salvo  conducto  question  at  once.  Egan  will 
not  now  allow  any  more  refugees  to  leave  the  legation 
without  written  permits.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  Chilean  trouble. 

"  Monday  Afternoon,  January  nth.  —  Yesterday 
evening  came  more  cablegrams,  and  to-day  I  have  news 
from  Egan  that  the  Chilean  Government  pledges  safe 
conduct  to  the  refugees  now  in  the  legation  out  of  the 
country,  and  to-morrow  night  they  will  be  down  on  me 
to  the  number  of  six  or  eight — not  only  those  in  the 
legation,  but  others.  There  is  no  Spanish  vessel  of 
war  in  the  harbour,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Spanish 
and  American  ministers  I  have  consented  to  take  on 
board  the  refugees  now  in  the  Spanish  legation.  I 
wish  they  were  all  clear  of  the  country  and  we  with 
them. 

"  This  ship  is  constantly  overrun  with  the  wives, 
daughters,  and  cousins  of  the  men  now  on  board,  and 
I  suppose,  when  the  others  come,  things  will  be  much 
worse.  A  large  party  has  just  gone  away,  among  them 
a  beautiful  daughter  of  Mr.  McKenna,  who  said  to  me 
as  she  left,  '  I  love  zis  plaice ' — and  much  they  may 
love  it! 

"  Mr.  Egan  also  tells  me  that  the  police  have  been 
removed  from  around  the  legation,  but  the  Chilean 
Government  is  not  prepared  to  withdraw  the  offen 
sive  note  of  Mr.  Matta.  It  is  willing  to  say  that  no 
offence  was  meant,  but  will  not  withdraw  the  note. 
Egan  replies  that  ours  are  a  thinking  people,  and, 
given  the  language  of  the  note,  they  can  decide  for 

290 


Salvo   Conducto 

themselves  as  to  its  offensiveness.  After  it  is  with 
drawn  we  will  settle  the  Baltimore  affair.  All  the 
refugees  once  out  of  danger,  we  shall  then  be  in  a  posi 
tion  to  say  what  we  propose  to  do,  and  then  go  ahead 
and  do  it;  but  up  to  this  time  we  have  been  heavily 
handicapped  by  our  wards,  who  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  killed  at  the  first  warlike  demonstration. 

"  Tuesday,  January  I2th. — Last  evening  I  dined 
with  Admiral  Hotham  on  board  the  Warspite,  and  had 
a  good  dinner  and  friendly  treatment.  To-day  I  am 
notified  by  Mr.  Egan  that  he  will  be  down  to-morrow 
with  more  refugees — all  that  are  left  in  Santiago,  it 
seems.  They  will  be  escorted  by  the  Spanish  and 
Italian  ministers,  who  are  all  coming  on  board  the 
Yorktown,  and  will  probably  spend  the  day  with  us.  I 
have  no  idea  what  I  shall  do  with  so  many  people,  but 
one  thing  I  am  sure  of,  and  that  is  that  I  shall  salute 
all  these  ministers;  and  when  I  have  fired  my  forty-five 
guns  the  people  of  Valparaiso  will  know  that  the  ques 
tion  of  salvo  conducto  is  settled,  for  the  present  at 
least.  Egan  has  come  out  of  the  whole  business  with 
flying  colours,  and  were  it  not  for  what  might  be  said 
I  would  wear  a  green  ribbon  in  my  buttonhole  to 
morrow  simply  to  show  my  respect  for  the  sandy  little 
Irishman.  The  consul  is  on  board  for  the  night,  and 
will  go  with  my  boats  to-morrow  morning  to  show 
them  just  where  to  find  Egan  and  his  party,  and  after 
they  come  the  cabin  will  be  more  crowded  than  it 
is  now. 

"  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  send  the  refugees 
away  in  the  first  steamer  that  leaves  here. 

"  January  ifth. — It  is  some  days  since  I  last  wrote, 
291 


A  Sailor's  Log 

but  the  cabin  is  so  crowded  that  I  can  only  write  late 
at  night.  Four  days  ago,  early  in  the  morning,  I  sent 
in  two  boats,  met  the  train,  and  brought  off  the  whole 
lot  of  refugees  from  the  United  States  and  Spanish 
legations,  accompanied  by  the  United  States,  the 
Spanish,  and  Italian  ministers.  I  made  them  as  com 
fortable  as  I  could,  being  assured  not  only  that  they 
came  by  permission  of  the  Government,  but  that  they 
would  leave  on  Saturday  (yesterday)  in  the  steamer  John 
Elder,  of  the  P.  S.  N.  Co.,  for  Europe.  Tickets  were 
bought  and  everything  made  ready.  In  the  meantime, 
when  the  ministers  were  about  to  leave  the  ship,  the 
one  from  Italy  asked  that  I  would  not  fire  him  a  salute, 
and  I  did  not.  The  Spaniard,  Count  Brunetti,  had 
requested  me  to  take  two  refugees  from  his  legation, 
which  I  did,  and  therefore  (if  for  no  other  reason) 
saluted  him  when  he  left.  On  Friday  Mr.  Egan  wired 
me  that  the  Santiago  authorities  had  changed  base, 
and  would  not  give  safe  conduct  to  the  refugees,  and 
that  they  would  arrest  them  when  the  John  Elder 
touched  at  a  Chilean  port — all  because  we  had  saluted 
the  Spanish  minister,  and  thus  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  they  had  permitted  the  refugees  to  leave. 

"  I  promptly  requested  Mr.  Egan  to  say  to  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  that  I  was  responsible  to 
my  own  Government  and  not  that  of  Chile  for  my  con 
duct,  and  that  I  considered  his  remarks  about  my  salute 
to  the  Spanish  minister  offensive  and  would  not  sub 
mit  to  them;  also  that  I  should  cable  the  matter  to  my 
Government,  which  I  did,  and,  as  they  have  not  said  a 
word  about  it,  I  assume  that  they  approve  of  my  action. 

"  Of  course,  the  refugees  could  not  go  on  the  John 
292 


An   Embarrassment   of  Refugees 

Elder,  and  we  now  have  them  quartered  on  board.  The 
bother  and  discomfort  are  very  great,  but  the  expense 
is  the  more  serious  matter  to  me.  The  John  Elder  put 
to  sea  at  2  P.  M.,  and  at  four  this  afternoon  we  had 
news  of  her  total  loss  on  the  rocks  at  four  this  morning 
— all  hands  saved.  What  an  escape  the  refugees  had! 
If  they  had  gone  in  her  they  would  all  have  been  shot 
by  this  time. 

"  The  English  cruiser  Melpomene  has  gone  to  the 
scene  of  the  wreck.  Of  course,  I  have  wired  the  Sec 
retary  very  fully,  and  he  and  the  President  know  the 
whole  situation.  I  have  wired  for  permission  to  land 
my  passengers  at  Callao,  twelve  hundred  miles  away, 
but  fear  he  will  not  permit  it.  A  Chilean  squadron  will 
leave  here  to-morrow,  bound  south,  and  I  have  infor 
mation  that  they  will  attempt  to  stop  Walker  in  the 
Straits  of  Magellan.  I  have  wired  it  to  Washington." 

From  the  time  I  received  the  refugees  on  board  I 
was  in  constant  anticipation  of  trouble.  The  morning 
they  came  I  had  my  ship  cleared  for  action,  and  fully 
expected  to  have  to  use  my  guns  before  the  affair  was 
concluded.  Threats  had  been  openly  made  that  if  I 
took  the  refugees  on  board,  the  Chilean  ships  would 
take  them  out  again.  The  excitement  was  very  gen 
eral,  and  feeling  ran  high.  While  Mr.  Elaine  had  not 
insisted  on  written  salzv  conductos,  he  had  exacted 
verbal  ones;  and  the  Chilean  Government  was  not 
aware  of  what  was  going  on,  but  anxious  to  get  the 
parties  out  of  the  country.  But  Santiago  could  not 
control  Valparaiso,  and  in  the  latter  port,  with  its  tur 
bulent  population,  lay  the  danger. 

During  the  first  few  hours  after  their  arrival  I  no- 
20  293 


A  Sailor's  Log 

ticed  that  none  of  the  refugees  would  show  themselves 
above  the  rail  of  the  ship,  notwithstanding  I  had  chairs 
on  the  poop  deck  for  them.  Senor  Ibafios,  formerly 
minister  to  the  United  States,  was  among  the  last  lot 
that  had  arrived,  and  when  I  asked  him  what  the 
trouble  was  he  showed  me  a  letter  from  a  friend  on 
shore  warning  him  and  his  friends  that  if  they  raised 
their  heads  above  the  rail  they  would  be  shot,  and  that 
boats  were  lurking  about  my  ship  for  the  purpose  of 
shooting  them.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  allowed  the 
fishing  boats  to  fish  close  alongside  the  Yorktown,  but 
I  now  gave  orders  to  keep  them  away  and  to  double 
our  sentries.  The  orders  the  sentries  had  would  have 
made  it  serious  work  for  any  boatman  to  show  anything 
that  looked  like  a  gun  anywhere  near  us. 

I  had  my  boat  manned,  and  with  the  letter  spoken 
of,  and  several  others  of  the  same  tenor,  called  on  Cap 
tain  Vial,  of  the  Cochran,  and  gave  him  tersely  my 
views  of  the  situation.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  I  did 
not  command  a  prison  ship,  but  that  his  countrymen, 
who  had  taken  refuge  on  board  of  me,  were  the  guests 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  they  were  there  with  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  the  Chilean  Government.  I 
assured  him  that  I  would  protect  them  to  the  last  ex 
tremity,  and  warned  him  to  keep  all  boats  away  from 
the  immediate  vicinity,  or  they  might  come  to  grief. 
At  the  same  time  I  notified  him  that  I  would  only  allow 
boats  from  men  of  war  showing  the  Chilean  flag  to 
come  alongside  the  Yorktown,  so  that  in  case  anything 
unpleasant  happened  I  should  know  whom  to  hold  re 
sponsible.  After  this  there  was  no  more  trouble,  but  I 
was  constantly  on  the  lookout  and  prepared  for  it. 

294 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

A   WELCOME    DEPARTURE 

ABOUT  January  2Oth  I  received  telegraphic  orders 
permitting  me  to  land  my  passengers  at  Callao,  Peru, 
at  my  discretion.  I  at  once  notified  the  Chilean  au 
thorities  that  I  would  leave  Valparaiso  in  six  hours. 
I  also  visited  the  English  admiral  and  gave  him  the 
same  information.  He  called  my  attention  to  the  fact 
that  four  of  the  Chilean  ships  had  steam  up,  and  to 
the  further  fact  that  it  had  been  announced  in  the  Val 
paraiso  papers  that  when  I  went  to  sea  their  ships 
would  go  after  me  to  see  that  I  did  not  land  the  refugees 
and  get  up  another  revolution.  I  told  the  admiral 
very  plainly  that  if  any  ship  or  number  of  ships  fol 
lowed  me  to  sea  and  undertook  to  follow  my  motions 
I  would  regard  it  as  an  act  of  gross  discourtesy  and 
insult  to  my  flag,  and  would  resent  it  on  the  spot.  I 
never  learned  whether  he  communicated  with  the 
Chileans  on  the  subject  or  not,  but  when  I  got  under 
way  at  the  time  I  had  fixed  and  steamed  out,  nobody 
pursued  me,  or  attempted  to  do  so.  The  condition 
in  Valparaiso  had  become  almost  unbearable,  and  it 
was  with  a  sense  of  great  relief  that  I  found  myself 
at  sea. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  first  night  out,  while 
295 


A  Sailor's  Log 

running  at  very  high  speed,  a  suspicious  noise  was 
heard  in  the  high-pressure  cylinder  of  one  of  the  en 
gines.  When  the  cylinder  head  was  taken  off  I  found 
two  hardened  steel  wedges,  which  had  been  placed  in 
the  valve  chest,  no  doubt,  when  we  first  arrived  at 
Valparaiso  by  some  evilly  disposed  person,  with  the 
intention  of  sending  us  all  to  the  bottom.  It  could 
easily  have  been  done  when  we  first  arrived,  and  before 
we  knew  what  kind  of  people  we  had  to  deal  with.  It 
was  simply  a  miracle  that  I  escaped  a  serious  disaster, 
for  if  the  cylinder  head  had  been  knocked  out  with  the 
pressure  of  steam  I  was  carrying,  the  side  of  the  ship 
would  have  gone  with  it.  As  I  stood  watching  the 
group  of  machinists  and  firemen  working  about  the  en 
gines  I  could  see  the  blood  come  into  their  faces  until 
the  whites  of  their  eyes  were  bloodshot.  I  knew  pretty 
well  what  they  were  thinking,  and  was  very  careful  that 
all  parts  of  the  ship  were  thoroughly  guarded  until  my 
refugees  were  landed  in  Peru,  safe  and  happy. 

One  of  the  performances  that  had  most  tried  my 
patience  and  temper  at  Valparaiso  was  the  way  they  ran 
their  torpedo  boats  about  my  ship,  using  her  appar 
ently  as  a  target.  At  first  I  considered  it  only  as  an 
exhibition  of  bad  manners,  but,  in  view  of  the  various 
warnings  I  had  had,  I  concluded  that  there  might  be 
something  more  serious  in  it.  It  was  plain  to  all  hands 
that  an  effort  was  being  made  to  impress  the  officers 
of  the  foreign  ships  in  port,  who  watched  closely  with 
their  glasses.  I  was  unwilling  to  play  the  part  which 
had  apparently  been  assigned  me.  When  they  ran  at 
me  the  second  time  one  of  the  boats  missed  my  stern 
by  less  than  six  feet.  I  went  to  quarters  at  once  and 

2Q6 


Saucy   Torpedo   Boats 

gave  orders,  if  one  of  them  even  scratched  the  paint 
on  the  Yorktown,  to  blow  the  boat  out  of  the  water 
and  kill  every  man  in  her,  so  that  there  could  be  no 
question  of  an  accidental  collision.  I  then  saw  the 
officer  in  charge  of  the  drills,  and  told  him  that  he  cer 
tainly  had  great  confidence  in  the  steering  gear  of  his 
torpedo  boats;  that  if  anything  should  jam  so  that  one 
of  them  struck  me  I  would  blow  her  bottom  out.  He 
replied  that  the  water  in  the  harbour  belonged  to  his 
Government,  and  that  he  proposed  to  use  it  for  the 
purpose  of  drilling  his  boats.  I  answered  that  I  was 
fully  aware  of  the  ownership  he  had  stated,  but  that 
the  Yorktown  and  the  paint  on  her  belonged  to  the 
United  States,  and  that  neither  must  be  defaced  by  his 
torpedo  boats.  After  this  incident  they  did  not  run  at 
us  so  much,  though  the  newspapers  encouraged  them 
to  do  so. 

Before  the  refugees  were  well  clear  of  me  at  Callao 
I  had  coal  lighters  alongside,  and  in  a  few  hours  I  was 
ready  to  start  back  to  Valparaiso  to  see  the  trouble 
out.  In  answer  to  my  telegram  saying  that  I  was  ready 
to  sail,  I  was  directed  to  await  further  orders  at  Callao. 
The  following  from  my  journal  is  of  interest,  as  showing 
my  feelings  at  the  time: 

"  Saturday  Night,  February  6th. — A  mail  is  in,  and 
I  have  nice  letters  from  friends  commending  my  course 
at  Valparaiso;  very  satisfactory,  but  I  wish  the  news 
papers  would  let  me  alone.  Why  should  they  call  me 
'Fighting  Bob'?  Some  of  them  say  they  must  take 
my  statements  with  '  very  large  grains  of  salt/  But 
generally  they  seem  to  commend  me,  which,  if  one  must 
figure  in  them,  is  the  best  way;  but  as  I  see  my  duty 

297 


A  Sailor's  Log 

I  shall  do  it,  hoping  for  the  approval  of  the  Govern 
ment.  When  they  send  me  orders  I  shall  try  to  follow 
them.  Some  of  the  letters  say,  '  We  are  waiting  for 
you  to  stir  up  the  war/  and  the  writers  will  never  know 
how  near  I  came  to  doing  it.  Looking  back  at  it  now, 
I  am  glad  I  did  just  what  I  did,  and  in  the  way  I  did 
it.  I  would  not  change  it  if  I  could.  Of  course,  I 
could  have  '  stirred  up  the  war,'  and  it  may  be  that 
people  would  have  justified  me,  but  I  could  not  justify 
myself.  In  the  discharge  of  my  duty  I  gave  the 
Chileans  a  fine  chance  to  fight  if  they  wanted  to,  and 
the  odds  were  enough  in  their  favour — nine  ships  to 
one.  But  they  backed  water  every  time,  and  I  main 
tained  a  dignified  and  resolute  position. 

"  Of  course,  if  they  had  provoked  it  I  should  have 
engaged  their  nine  ships  without  hesitation,  and  the 
chances  would  not  have  favoured  my  getting  the  York- 
town  out  of  their  harbour.  I  am  glad  also  that  I  got 
away  from  Valparaiso  just  when  I  did,  for  I  am  sure 
that  if  we  had  been  there  when  the  President's  ulti 
matum  came  I  should  have  had  to  open  on  them,  the 
feeling  was  so  intense.  They  would  have  insulted  me 
again,  and  I  should  have  attacked  them.  If  the  Gov 
ernment  is  going  to  demand  a  salute  to  our  flag,  and 
will  send  a  lot  of  ships,  I  should  like  to  be  in  command 
of  one  of  them.  But  it  is  useless  to  send  a  single  ship; 
it  would  only  be  insulted,  as  the  Chileans  respect  noth 
ing  but  force." 

The  excitement  and  worry  of  Valparaiso  had  told 
severely  on  the  officers  of  the  Yorktown,  especially  on 
me.  I  was  therefore  much  pleased  when  the  railroad 
officials  at  Lima  tendered  us  a  trip  over  the  Andes  on 

298 


A   Trip   over   the   Andes 

the  Arroyo  road,  which  was  a  real  pleasure  and  recrea 
tion.  They  were  good  enough  to  give  me  a  special 
car  and  engine  for  the  use  of  the  party,  which  consisted 
of  sixteen  officers  of  the  Boston  and  Yorktown.  The 
car  was  just  large  enough  to  hold  us,  and  the  engine 
was  in  proportion,  so  that  the  train  looked  like  a  toy 
concern;  but  the  speed  was  sufficient  for  my  taste.  I 
had,  of  course,  heard  of  the  splendid  work  Meigs  and 
his  fellow-Americans  had  done  on  this  road,  but  I  had 
no  conception  of  its  wonderful  details,  nor  do  I  be 
lieve  any  one  can  have  until  he  sees  them.  It  dwarfed 
all  the  railroad  work  I  had  ever  seen;  indeed,  all  the 
work  of  any  kind.  The  road  was  completed  to  a  point 
thirteen  thousand  two  hundred  feet  above  sea  level, 
which  left  only  about  two  thousand  feet  more  to  climb 
before  crossing  the  divide,  after  which  it  was  intended 
to  descend  the  eastern  slope  of  the  mountains  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Amazon. 

The  wild  flowers  along  the  roadside  were  beautiful. 
Up  to  an  elevation  of  ten  thousand  feet  the  sides  of 
the  track  were  covered  with  wild  heliotrope.  All  the 
way  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  daisies  of  several  va 
rieties  were  in  abundance.  The  scenery  was  grand 
beyond  description.  In  many  places  the  engineers 
making  the  surveys  had  been  suspended  over  the  face 
of  the  cliffs  thousands  of  feet  from  anywhere.  The 
location  of  such  a  road  seemed  to  me  more  wonderful 
than  the  construction  which  followed,  though  the  latter 
was  certainly  a  monument  to  American  genius  and 
pluck. 

When  we  reached  the  station  at  the  highest  point 
of  the  road,  I  got  out  and  walked  a  short  distance 

299 


A  Sailor's  Log 

to  test  the  theory  that  the  heart's  action  is  much 
weakened  at  such  an  elevation.  I  was  quickly  satis 
fied;  the  distress  was  immediate,  and  I  was  ready  to 
sit  down  again  when  I  had  walked  a  hundred  feet  or 
less.  I  found  the  men  in  charge  and  the  drivers  of  the 
llama  trains  there  were  strong  and  hearty,  but  it  had 
required  many  months'  to  accustom  them  to  breath 
ing  the  rarefied  air.  These  llama  trains  deserve  a  men 
tion.  The  curious,  long-necked,  delicate-looking  ani 
mals  were  used  to  transport  silver  ore  from  the 
mines  in  the  mountains  to  the  railroad  on  its  way 
to  the  smelters.  The  ore  was  placed  on  their  backs 
in  bags,  and  so  long  as  you  put  one  hundred  pounds 
or  less  on  each  one  they  would  climb  the  mountain 
trails  in  a  wonderful  way;  but  if  you  put  more  than 
a  hundred  pounds  on  them,  they  would  lie  down 
quietly  and  stay  there  until  you  removed  the  extra 
weight. 

On  the  run  down  from  Chicla,  steam  was  cut  off 
and  all  brakes  put  on;  but  even  then  we  tore  around 
curves  and  through  tunnels  in  a  way  to  make  one's  hair 
stand  on  end.  At  Lima  I  dined  with  our  minister  and 
retired  early  to  my  hotel,  hoping  for  a  restful  night,  but 
I  was  sadly  disappointed.  Fleas  and  mosquitoes  bit 
me,  foul  smells  attacked  my  nostrils,  and  cats  and  dogs, 
which  seemed  to  abound,  squalled  and  barked  all  night. 
About  five  in  the  morning  I  heard  the  most  extraordi 
nary  noise,  something  between  the  squeal  of  a  pig  and 
the  cackle  of  a  hen,  and,  on  looking  for  the  cause  from 
my  window,  found  a  little,  dried-up,  old  she-devil  of 
a  Peruvian  woman,  who  seemed  to  be  in  charge  of 
all  the  servants,  and  was  berating  them  for  everything 

300 


A   Callao    Painter 

she  could  lay  her  tongue  to.  She  never  drew  breath 
until  eight  o'clock  or  after. 

The  English  flagship  Warspite  arrived  at  Callao 
about  this  time  from  Valparaiso,  and  her  crew,  to  show 
their  good  feeling  for  us,  invited  forty  men  from  the 
Yorktown  and  one  hundred  from  the  Boston  to  dine 
on  board  with  them,  and  afterward  gave  them  a  min 
strel  performance.  The  admiral  at  the  same  time  en 
tertained  six  American  officers,  and  had  to  meet  them 
five  of  his  own,  which,  with  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  made  a  jovial  party  of  twelve.  The  Warspite 
was  off  in  the  early  morning,  so  that  we  could  do  noth 
ing  to  show  our  appreciation  of  their  courtesy. 

During  our  stay  at  Callao  the  weather  was  very 
damp,  with  constant  fogs,  and  the  effect  on  a  steel  ship 
was  enough  to  break  an  executive  officer's  heart.  The 
plates  wept  rust  from  every  joint  and  rivet,  and  with 
constant  care  and  attention  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
keep  the  ship  looking  her  best.  Injury  was  unavoid 
able  from  the  rust  in  places  where  neither  scraper  nor 
paint  brush  could  reach.  We  had  a  fair  sample  of  what 
all  seafaring  men  know  as  a  "  Callao  painter,"  which 
turned  all  our  beautiful  paint  work  black  as  a  pot, 
hence  its  name.  It  also  offended  our  nostrils  and 
affected  our  stomachs  unpleasantly.  The  vile  odours 
which  arise  from  the  water  during  the  "  Painters  "  have 
been  attributed  to  various  causes,  but  on  this  occasion 
they  were  immediately  followed  by  a  very  severe  earth 
quake,  which  led  me  to  think  that  possibly  the  gases 
escaping  from  the  earth  had  caused  the  phenomenon. 
Many  people  believed  that  the  accumulated  sewage 
of  centuries  in  the  bottom  of  the  harbour  had  some- 

301 


A  Sailor's  Log 

thing  to  do  with  it.  Whatever  the  cause  might  be,  I 
was  constantly  dreading  an  epidemic  of  typhoid.  I  for 
tunately  escaped  with  one  case  only. 

The  mail  on  February  28th  brought  home  news 
papers  as  late  as  February  loth.  I  find  in  my  journal 
the  following: 

"  The  correspondence  between  Elaine  and  Montt  is 
published,  and  certainly  the  Chilean  ought  to  go  home 
after  the  skinning  Elaine  has  given  him.  It  amuses  me 
to  see  that  Montt  objects  to  my  cablegram  of  January 
1 8th.  The  cable  was  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  he  and  the  President  evidently  did  not  con 
sider  it  objectionable,  or  they  would  not  have  given  it 
out  for  publication.  Or  if  they  did  disapprove,  they 
have  never  said  so  to  me. 

"  February  2$th. — The  good  ship  Boston  got  off  on 
time  Saturday,  crowing  over  the  poor  little  Yorktown 
for  having  been  left  '  in  the  soup,'  as  it  were;  but  I  am 
sure  the  Secretary  will  look  after  us  and  not  let  us 
suffer.  To-day  our  repairs  are  finished,  and  I  have 
wired  the  Secretary  that  we  are  ready  for  sea,  and  I 
hope  for  orders  soon.  The  weather  here  is  very  trying, 
not  only  to  officers  and  men,  but  also  to  the  ship. 

"  Some  of  the  home  papers  seem  rabid  on  the  sub 
ject  of  Mr.  Egan;  but  his  course  has  been  dignified 
and  just,  and  certainly  his  letters  show  great  ability. 
His  appointment  was  the  most  extraordinary  thing  in 
diplomatic  history,  but  his  conduct  at  Santiago  has 
justified  it.  Harrison's  message  is  splendid,  and  if  it 
does  not  make  him  the  next  President  I  shall  be  sur 
prised. 

"  March  2d. — Our  orders  have  come — to  'Frisco  in 
302 


Turtles 

my  own  time  and  way.  The  men  are  cheering  like  mad 
all  over  the  ship.  We  shall  sail  on  the  morning  of  the 
4th,  and  be  in  'Frisco  April  2d  or  3d.  Needless  to 
say,  I  am  delighted  with  my  orders." 

After  leaving  Callao  one  of  my  officers  developed 
typhoid  fever,  and  in  order  to  insure  his  recovery  I 
ran  into  Acapulco  and  bought  a  goat,  so  that  he  might 
have  the  advantage  of  fresh  milk.  Here  I  again  met 
Admiral  Hotham  in  the  Warspite,  and  the  moment  he 
learned  that  I  had  a  case  of  serious  illness  he  sent  his 
boat  to  me  with  the  only  piece  of  ice  in  the  harbour. 
His  courtesy  and  kindness  to  me  were  unfailing  when 
ever  we  met.  I  wired  the  Department  from  Acapulco, 
and  went  to  sea  at  once.  I  was  in  the  port  less  than 
two  hours. 

When  off  the  Galapagos  Islands  the  water  was  . 
covered  with  turtles.  I  counted  five  hundred  in  sight 
at  one  time.  Many  of  them  were  asleep,  and  as  I  had 
to  swing  ship  for  compass  deviations,  I  took  occasion 
at  the  same  time  to  supply  the  crew  with  plenty  of 
fresh  meat.  Two  whale  boats  were  lowered  and 
manned  for  the  purpose.  They  pulled  up  quietly  to 
the  turtles  one  after  another,  and  before  they  were 
fairly  awake  the  men  had  yanked  them  into  the  boats 
by  their  flippers.  In  less  than  an  hour  both  boats  had 
been  filled  and  were  alongside,  when  the  catch  was  dis 
tributed  among  the  different  messes  and  the  boats 
hoisted  in  their  places. 

North  of  the  Galapagos  Islands  I  had  a  curious 
experience.  I  had  for  days  noticed  a  large  number  of 
what  I  supposed  to  be  fish  breaking  the  water  at  some 
distance  from  the  ship.  I  took  them  to  be  skip-jacks, 

303 


A  Sailor's  Log 

a  species  of  the  mackerel  family,  as  their  motions  much 
resembled  those  of  this  fish,  which  I  had  often  caught 
in  the  Atlantic.  I  broke  out  my  trolling  lines,  and  with 
the  most  seductive  baits  fished  zealously  for  several 
days,  but  entirely  without  success.  Not  a  scale  could 
I  capture.  It  was  only  after  many  months  in  the  arctic 
later  on  that  I  discovered  that  I  had  been  fishing  for 
young  fur  seals. 

I  felt  sure  that  the  Yorktown  could  steam  from 
Callao  to  San  Francisco  without  recoaling,  a  distance 
of  about  forty-five  hundred  miles,  and  meant  to  give 
her  the  reputation  of  having  done  it;  but  when  off  San 
Diego  we  struck  a  streak  of  bad  coal,  and  as  I  only  had 
fifty  tons  remaining  on  board  I  deemed  it  prudent  to 
run  in  there  and  replenish  my  supply,  which  I  did.  I 
only  remained  overnight  and  then  hurried  on  my  way, 
arriving  in  San  Francisco  March  26,  1892.  On  the  way 
up  from  San  Diego  after  passing  Santa  Barbara  we  had 
a  succession  of  gales  with  biting  cold  weather,  which 
caused  us  much  suffering,  fresh  as  we  were  from  the 
heat  of  the  tropics.  My  typhoid  fever  patient  was  a 
plucky  youngster,  and  fought  hard  for  his  life,  but  I 
could  see  that  he  was  growing  weaker  day  by  day,  ow 
ing  to  the  unavoidable  discomforts  of  the  pitching, 
rolling  ship.  However,  I  landed  him  the  moment  we 
arrived,  and  sent  him  to  the  Mare  Island  Hospital, 
where  he  rapidly  recovered. 


304 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

FROM  CHILE  TO  BERING  SEA 

THE  people  of  San  Francisco  gave  me  and  the  crew 
of  the  Yorktown  a  very  hearty  welcome.  They  made 
it  plain  to  us  that  they  considered  the  treatment  of 
the  Baltimore  men  an  outrage  which  they  were  quite 
ready  to  fight  about.  The  general  feeling  seemed  to  be 
that  if  I  had  brought  on  a  war  they  would  have  con 
sidered  that  I  was  right,  and  would  have  backed  me  up 
for  doing  so.  As  soon  as  I  landed  I  was  recognised, 
though  in  plain  clothes,  and  the  outspoken  commenda 
tion  of  the  people  was  most  embarrassing  to  me.  I 
consoled  myself,  however,  with  the  thought  that  their 
condemnation  would  have  been  impossible  to  bear. 

After  one  day  at  San  Francisco  I  docked  the  York- 
town  at  Mare  Island,  and,  being  anxious  to  get  ready 
for  service  at  the  first  possible  moment,  put  my  men 
to  work  scraping  the  outside  of  the  ship  as  the  dock 
was  pumped  out.  When  the  last  water  had  disap 
peared  we  were  ready  for  the  paint,  and  in  forty-eight 
hours  again  ready  to  go  to  sea.  This  action  led  to 
a  bitter  attack  being  made  on  me  by  some  of  the  local 
labour  unions,  who  claimed  that  I  was  taking  the  bread 
out  of  the  mouths  of  the  poor  workmen  when  I  or 
dered  my  crew  to  scrape  the  bottom  of  the  ship.  I  con- 

305 


A  Sailor's  Log 

tended  that  it  was  as  much  my  duty  to  clean  the  bot 
tom  of  the  ship  as  it  was  the  top,  and  that  they  had 
no  more  right  to  paint  the  outside  of  her  than  they 
had  the  inside.  In  any  case  I  had  done  what  I  consid 
ered  my  duty,  and  the  ship  was  ready  for  sea  in  a  very 
short  space  of  time. 

"  Marc  Island,  California,  April  8,  1892. — We  have 
been  two  weeks  waiting  to  know  what  we  were  to  do, 
but  no  word  came.  The  men  were  working  hard  all  the 
time,  hoping  for  liberty,  money,  etc.,  when  the  work 
was  done,  but  no  money  was  sent  for  them,  and  the 
yard  people  would  not  do  the  few  repairs  necessary,  nor 
would  they  put  stores  and  coal  on  board.  To-day  came 
telegraphic  orders,  and  every  man  and  boy  is  up  to 
his  eyes  in  coal  dust;  and  at  the  same  time  we  are 
taking  in  provisions  and  stores  of  all  kinds,  and  I  shall 
go  to  sea  on  Monday  most  uncomfortable.  This  sort 
of  thing  is  anything  but  good  for  the  navy.  My  men 
had  every  right  to  expect  leave  here,  as  they  have  not 
put  foot  ashore  in  the  United  States  since  we  left  New 
York,  and  while  of  course  they  do  their  work,  they  do 
it  without  heart.  Our  orders  are  to  proceed  to  Port 
Townsend,  Washington,  and  there  await  instructions. 

"  April  loth. — Another  telegram  came  yesterday  to 
delay  departure  until  a  general  court-martial  could  try 
three  of  the  Yorktown's  men,  which  will  delay  us  prob 
ably  a  week.  The  court  is  ordered  for  next  Monday, 
April  1 8th,  and  we  shall  probably  sail  for  Port  Town- 
send  on  Thursday  or  Friday,  where  we  shall  arrive  four 
or  five  days  after  sailing.  The  present  programme  is 
for  us  to  wait  there  until  time  to  stop  the  sealers  and 
then  go  to  Bering  Sea,  where  we  shall  spend  most  of 

306 


An   Earthquake 

the  summer.  It  will  be  interesting  to  see  that  part  of 
the  world;  but  having  fried  us  in  the  tropics  for  months, 
they  are  now  going  to  cool  us  off  near  the  Arctic  Circle. 

"  Mare  Island,  April  iqth. — I  am  informed,  unoffi 
cially,  to-day  that  I  am  to  be  senior  officer  in  Bering 
Sea,  and  have  five  ships  to  do  the  work.  Of  course 
it  is  a  compliment,  and  it  is  good  to  be  so  well  thought 
of  by  the  Secretary,  but  it  will  give  me  no  end  of  work 
and  care.  If  one  is  to  serve,  it  is  best  so.  To-morrow 
I  go  to  'Frisco  again  to  complete  my  sea  outfit  for 
arctic  weather,  and  at  the  same  time  make  arrange 
ments  to  have  fresh  provisions  sent  north  each  month 
for  the  crew;  it  seems  that  we  can  get  nothing  of  that 
kind  up  there. 

11  Mare  Island,  April  i8th. — The  people  out  here 
are  awfully  good  to  me;  I  never  knew  anything  like 
the  feeling  they  show.  They  are  now  talking  about 
the  marvellous  way  in  which  I  brought  the  Yorktown 
up  to  the  yard  and  took  my  buoy.  There's  nothing  in 
it ;  we  only  came  fast  and  made  a  nice  turn  in  a  narrow 
space.  If  they  had  seen  us  come  through  the  English 
Narrows  they  would  probably  have  had  a  fit.  I  have 
been  in  command  of  the  Yorktown  nine  months  to 
day.  This  summer  will  be  anxious  work  for  me,  but 
at  the  same  time  interesting. 

"  Mare  Island,  April  2$d. — I  was  in  the  comman 
dant's  office  day  before  yesterday  when  the  second 
terrible  earthquake  came,  and  I  was  never  so  fright 
ened  in  my  life.  The  first  movement  was  light,  but 
then  came  the  dreadful  twisting,  and  the  building 
creaked  and  groaned  as  if  it  must  surely  come  down, 
and  I  don't  see  now  why  it  did  not.  The  general  court- 

307 


A  Sailor's  Log 

martial,  sitting  in  the  next  room,  promptly  adjourned, 
and,  as  I  heard  all  hands  making  for  the  open,  I  asked 
the  admiral  to  excuse  me,  and  it  was  surprising  to  see 
how  my  old  game  leg  got  down  the  stairs.  After  it  was 
over  I  examined  the  building,  and  found  every  arch 
broken  through  and  the  plaster  ready  to  fall  in  every 
room.  The  poor  women  and  children  all  over  the 
island  spent  most  of  the  day  afterward  on  the  side 
walks — some  of  them  were  made  ill  from  it ;  and  I  learn 
from  the  newspapers  that  the  northern  part  of  the  State 
suffered  great  damage  and  loss.  At  seven  in  the  evening 
another  shock  came,  but  not  so  severe.  Of  course,  it 
is  only  a  question  of  time,  if  this  sort  of  thing  goes 
on,  when  the  buildings  will  fall  and  cause  great  loss 
of  life. 

"  A  telegram  came  from  the  Department  yesterday, 
asking  when  I  could  be  ready  for  sea.  I  requested  the 
admiral  to  reply  that  I  had  been  ready  ever  since  I 
arrived,  but  I  don't  believe  he  did  it.  I  have  the  idea 
that  a  vessel  of  war  should  always  be  ready  to  do 
service. 

"  Mare  Island,  April  2$th. — The  latest  telegram  to 
the  admiral  about  us  reads,  '  Have  the  Yorktown  ready 
for  sea  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  but  do  not 
allow  her  to  leave  without  further  instructions/  I 
wonder  if  the  Department  is  afraid  I  will  run  away 
with  the  little  frigate  and  turn  pirate.  Young  Jackson 
was  walking  about  yesterday,  and  will  be  well  of  his 
typhoid  fever  in  a  month  or  two. 

"  Mare  Island,  April  26th. — At  last  the  orders  have 
come,  and  I  am  directed  to  proceed  to  Port  Townsend, 
collect  all  the  information  I  can  about  the  sealing  fleet, 

308 


Too   Much   " Fighting   Bob" 

and  carry  out  the  instructions  which  will  reach  me 
there.  Of  course,  that  means  that  I  am  to  spend  the 
summer  chasing  sealers. 

"  Port  Townsend,  April  ^oth. — We  certainly  do 
have  bad  luck  sometimes,  and  this  is  one  of  the  times. 
We  left  Mare  Island  on  Wednesday  at  noon,  and  have 
made  steamer  time  up  here,  but  with  such  a  nasty 
gale  behind  us  that  the  little  ship  has  rolled  more  than 
at  any  time  since  we  left  New  York.  Thursday  I  was 
on  deck  all  day  and  most  of  the  night,  and  the  strain 
on  my  wounded  foot  was  so  bad  that  it  gave  way,  and 
I  am  now  on  my  back.  Rheumatism  followed  the 
strain,  and  I  have  suffered  very  much,  but  am  now  '  on 
the  mend.'  It  is  plain  that  I  am  to  have  a  pretty  hard 
summer  with  the  fogs,  gales,  sealers,  and  other  '  var 
mints/  I  am  now  in  command  of  five  ships,  but  with 
out  orders  from  the  Department,  and  hence  at  a  loss 
to  know  what  they  expect  me  to  do.  My  instructions 
will,  no  doubt,  come  at  the  last  moment,  and  give  no 
end  of  trouble.  This  morning  the  shore  people  have 
been  off  to  welcome  me,  and  the  newspapers  are  most 
complimentary.  Too  much  '  Fighting  Bob  '  business. 

"  Port  Townsend,  May  $d. — My  orders  have  come, 
and  they  seem  endless,  and  the  telegrams  are  dropping 
in  by  the  dozen.  The  people  block  up  the  decks,  they 
are  so  thick;  and,  in  addition  to  it  all,  my  cabin  table 
and  chairs  are  piled  up  with  printed  documents  and 
charts  until  I  am  distracted.  My  orders  are  confiden 
tial:  I  am  to  prepare  the  fleet,  which  I  am  ordered  to 
command,  for  a  six  months'  cruise  in  the  North  Pacific 
and  Bering  Sea — the  second  largest  fleet  in  commis 
sion,  and  the  most  active  and  important  work  of  our 
21  309 


A  Sailor's  Log 

navy  at  present.  The  Yorktown,  Mohican,  Adams, 
Ranger,  and  Rush  compose  the  fleet,  and  if  I  can  do 
half  what  my  orders  call  for  I  shall  consider  that  I 
have  done  well.  The  orders  are  certainly  ironclad,  and 
make  me  complete  boss  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Ber 
ing  Sea.  I  shall  make  a  stab  at  it,  and  only  hope  that 
I  succeed  and  make  no  blunders.  Commanding  a  fleet 
without  clerks  or  a  staff  of  any  kind  is  hard  work. 

"  My  old  bones  are  better,  and  if  the  clear,  bracing 
weather  continues  I  shall  pull  up  to  my  average  in  a 
few  days.  The  view  from  the  ship  is  finer  than  anything 
I  ever  saw  in  Italy.  Snow-clad  mountains,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  away,  standing  out  clear  as  crystal 
against  the  most  perfect  sky  and  looking  as  if  one 
could  walk  to  them  in  two  hours,  and  air  that  feels  as 
brittle  as  spun  glass  as  I  breathe  it. 

"  Port  Townsend,  May  $th. — The  grind  still  goes  on, 
and  playing  admiral  with  no  staff  is  not  an  easy  thing. 
However,  I  shall  make  out  somehow,  and  have  the  fleet 
ready  for  sea  next  Tuesday  or  Wednesday,  and  then 
wait  the  word  from  Washington  to  sail.  I  have  a 
serious  work  ahead  of  me  and  appreciate  that  much 
depends  on  the  way  it  is  done.  It  has  been  much  de 
layed  here  by  the  crowds  and  jams  of  people,  who  flock 
to  the  ship  until  we  can  scarcely  move  for  them.  But 
I  know  they  mean  to  be  kind;  they  say  they  admire 
and  like  me,  and  it  would  be  ungracious  not  to  see 
them.  Even  more — they  would  be  offended  and  could 
not  understand  if  they  were  told  that  my  official  duties 
were  so  pressing  that  I  could  not  see  them;  so  I  work 
along  as  best  I  can.  Of  course,  I  can  only  do  a  very 
small  part  of  what  is  expected  of  me  socially.  Some  of 

310 


The  Social   Whirl 

these  people  came  on  board  with  a  band  to  welcome  us; 
it  made  me  feel  like  a  fool.  Last  night  was  the  first 
occasion  of  my  appearance  in  the  *  social  whirl '  here. 
I  attended  a  reception  where  I  was  placed  in  a  parlour, 
and  then  each  person  was  formally  presented  to  me — 
all  kind  and  friendly,  some  charming.  To-morrow  I 
am  to  go  to  two  receptions  of  the  Governor  and  Mrs. 
Ferry. 

"  Port  Townsend,  May  fth. — Yesterday  and  to-day 
have  been  great  days  for  this  place,  and  very  hard  on 
me  because  of  all  the  work  I  have  had  in  addition  to  the 
functions  in  connection  with  the  centennial  of  the  dis 
covery  of  Puget  Sound  by  Captain  Vancouver.  For 
days  the  committees  have  been  running  after  me  con 
stantly  to  help  them  out  with  all  sorts  of  details,  which 
I  have  done,  and  yesterday  active  work  began  on  the 
arrival  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor.  I  went,  with 
all  the  other  officers,  in  full  dress,  to  pay  our  respects 
at  a  reception  given  by  the  President  of  the  First  Na 
tional  Bank. 

"  As  there  are  some  revenue  marine  vessels  in  my 
command,  their  officers  came  as  well,  and  we  made  a 
good  show,  in  a  long  line  of  carriages,  much  observed 
by  the  people.  At  the  residence  of  Colonel  Landes  a 
company  of  State  troops  was  drawn  up  who  gave  me  a 
salute  as  I  marched  by  them.  I  was  escorted  to  the 
parlour  where  were  the  Governor  and  Mrs.  Ferry  sur 
rounded  by  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  Port  Townsend. 
Colonel  Landes  introduced  me  with  a  most  kind  speech, 
which  concluded  by  saying  that  '  the  American  people 
were  proud  of '  me.  Then  Governor  Ferry  said  many 
more  flattering  things,  and  then  they  introduced  me 

3" 


A  Sailor's  Log 

to  every  one  in  the  room,  and  each  one  said  something 
kind  and  cordial.  To-day  we  have  fired  three  salutes, 
twenty-one  guns  each,  dressed  ships  with  flags,  and 
otherwise  disported  ourselves,  to  the  great  gratification 
of  the  Port  Townsendites.  Early  in  the  day  I  was 
caught  and  put  as  the  chief  support  of  the  Governor, 
and  something  happened  to  me  which  really  touched 
me.  I  was  standing  on  the  sidewalk  near  the  grand 
stand  when  quite  a  crowd  of  plain-looking  people — 
men,  women,  and  children — came  up,  and  one  said, 
'Governor  Ferry,  we  want  to  speak  to  the  captain  of  the 
Yorktown  and  introduce  our  wives/  Of  course,  I 
spoke  to  them  all,  and  every  one  had  a  kind  word  for 
me.  Then  a  lot  of  miners,  hard-looking  chaps,  came 
and  sized  me  up,  and  each  one  said, '  Cap,  shake/  and  I 
shook  till  my  hand  was  almost  disabled.  After  the 
review  we  drove  to  the  beach  to  a  mammoth  clambake, 
and  there  the  ladies  embarrassed  me  with  their  kind 
ness — saying  and  doing  things  to  me  that  they  might 
have  done  to  Admiral  Farragut. 

"  Port  Toivnsend,  May  loth. — Eastern  papers  have 
come,  some  saying  that  Mr.  Elaine  admits  that  my 
telegram  from  Valparaiso  was  '  improper.'  Mr.  Tracy, 
my  superior  and  commanding  officer,  has  not  said  to 
me  that  he  approved  of  my  course  in  Chile,  but  he  gives 
me  the  most  important  command  in  the  navy,  and 
I  shall  go  on  just  the  same,  and  do  as  I  did  in  Chile, 
what  I  feel  to  be  my  duty  to  my  country.  They  are 
heaping  the  work  on  me  now.  Yesterday  I  took  the 
Rush  and  went  over  to  Esquimault  to  spend  the  day 
with  Admiral  Hotham,  and  get  from  him  and  his 
officers  their  plans  for  the  summer.  My  visit  was 

312 


Off  for   Bering   Sea 

most  successful  and  delightful,  and  I  am  glad  I  went. 
The  admiral  kept  me  to  luncheon  and  dinner;  we 
had  a  most  satisfactory  time,  and  made  all  arrange 
ments  for  co-operation  during  the  summer.  They  will 
send  the  Melpomene  and  Daphne,  and  their  command 
ing  officers  will  be  practically  under  my  orders,  so  I 
am  really  to  have  a  big  command. 

"  I  left  here  at  seven  in  the  morning,  and  returned 
at  2  A.  M.  to-day,  but  could  not  get  to  bed  until  3.30, 
as  my  desk  was  full  of  letters  and  telegrams,  the  answers 
to  which  had  to  go  at  seven.  I  was  up  again  at  eight, 
and  have  scarcely  had  the  pen  out  of  my  hand  since, 
except  for  an  official  interview  with  the  commanding 
officers  of  the  Mohican  and  Adams,  and  I  see  no  chance 
for  a  let-up  until  we  go  to  sea.  I  have  wired  to-day 
that  four  vessels  of  the  fleet  are  ready  to  sail,  and  that 
I  am  anxious  to  get  away.  The  other  four  vessels  can 
join  us  later  at  Unalaska.  I  now  have  eight  under  my 
command — quite  a  showing  for  a  commander.  But 
Chilean  refugees  and  arctic  outfits  have  hardly  left  me 
money  to  pay  my  bills. 

"  Port  Townsend,  May  nth. — The  final  orders  have 
come,  and  we  are  off  day  after  to-morrow  (i3th)  early 
in  the  morning  with  the  Yorktown,  Adams,  Mohican, 
and  Rush,  leaving  orders  for  the  Ranger,  Corwin,  Bear, 
and  Albatross  to  join  me  at  Unalaska.  I  have  written, 
with  my  own  hands,  detailed  instructions  for  each  of 
them,  besides  many  letters  of.  all  kinds.  Surely  I  shall 
have  no  end  of  work  this  trip.  We  sail  under  sealed 
orders,  not  to  be  opened  until  we  are  outside  the  straits. 
It  seems  a  curious  thing  to  do  in  time  of  profound 
peace,  and  I  wonder  what  it  can  mean.  Until  some 

313 


A  Sailor's  Log 

letters  came  to-day  I  had  not  realized  what  an  amount 
of  talk  the  papers  had  made  about  my  work  in  Chile. 
I  was  not  aware  that  my  cables  to  the  Department  had 
been  published.  It  is  bearable  to  have  the  papers  call 
me  '  Fighting  Bob  '  when  I  see  that  my  friends  approve 
of  me  and  are  pleased  and  proud  of  the  notoriety." 


CHAPTER    XXV 

THE    NAVY   AMONG   THE    SEALERS 

THE  preparation  of  the  fleet  for  service  had  been 
hard  work,  but  the  prospect  of  doing  something  braced 
all  hands  up  wonderfully.  At  first  it  looked  as  if  we 
would  surely  have  a  collision  with  the  British  navy 
over  the  seal  question,  and  I  knew,  of  course,  that 
that  meant  a  bitter  and  destructive  war.  The  long 
struggle  over  the  modus  vivendi  was  not  concluded 
when  my  instructions  were  sent  me,  and  I  knew  the 
moment  I  read  them  that  if  I  carried  them  out  we 
would  have  war  on  our  hands  within  a  week.  Hence  I 
was  much  relieved  when  the  terms  of  that  instrument 
had  been  agreed  upon,  and  the  whole  contents  wired 
me  for  my  guidance.  My  first  orders  contemplated  the 
seizure  of  all  sealing  vessels  found  within  certain  limits, 
and  the  orders  of  the  British  admiral  were  to  protect 
the  Canadian  sealers  in  the  same  limits.  It  is  easy  to 
see  what  any  action  on  my  part  would  have  led  to. 
Fortunately,  wise  counsels  prevailed,  and  united  action 
between  the  two  navies  was  decided  upon. 

While  these  sea  preparations  were  being  made  I 
used  my  best  endeavours  to  find  out  where  the  sealing 
fleet  would  rendezvous,  in  order  that  I  might  be  on 
hand  to  seize  the  supply  steamer,  which  would  much 

315 


A  Sailor's  Log 

simplify  my  work  during  the  summer.  With  the  assist 
ance  of  detectives,  sent  us  from  Washington,  I  inter 
viewed  the  men  most  likely  to  give  the  secret  away; 
but  I  found  that  they  were  absolutely  in  the  dark,  as  all 
the  vessels  of  the  fleet  were  to  go  to  sea  with  sealed 
orders,  which  were  to  be  delivered  to  them  only  on 
the  eve  of  their  departure. 

To  make  the  situation  clearer,  it  may  be  well  to 
give  here,  in  a  few  words,  the  course  pursued  by  these 
sealers,  of  whom  so  much  has  been  written.  The  fleet 
was  composed  entirely  of  schooners,  large  and  small, 
and  numbered  about  one  hundred  and  ten.  They  were 
not  owned,  as  many  people  supposed,  entirely  by  Brit 
ish  subjects.  Many  of  them  had  American  owners,  but 
sailed  under  the  English  flag.  Many  others  sailed  under 
the  American  flag.  All  were  controlled  by  the  Sealers' 
Association.  Each  vessel  had  its  regular  crew  for 
working  her,  and  in  addition  from  ten  to  forty  men, 
according  to  her  size,  who  were  known  as  hunters,  and 
who  did  the  killing.  They  were  armed  with  double- 
barrelled  No.  10  shotguns  for  the  seals,  and  a  good  out 
fit  of  Winchester  rifles  for  revenue  officers  or  others  who 
interfered  with  them.  Each  schooner  carried  a  number 
of  dories  or  small  boats  to  be  used  in  sneaking  on  the 
sleeping  seals;  and  each  of  these  boats  had  one  or 
two  long  gaff-hooks,  or  poles  with  several  hooks  on  the 
sides,  for  the  purpose  of  catching,  if  possible,  the  bodies 
which  sank  rapidly  after  being  shot. 

When  the  seal  herd  appeared  off  San  Francisco, 
usually  early  in  February,  from  its  winter  quarters  in 
the  south,  the  fleet  joined  it,  and  remained  with  it  until 
it  entered  the  Bering  Sea  through  one  of  the  passes. 


Seal   Poachers 

During  all  this  long  trip  of  the  herd  around  and  across 
the  North  Pacific  the  work  of  destruction  went  on. 
The  great  majority  of  the  seals  were  females  with  young, 
hurrying  on  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  their  breeding 
ground,  and  therefore  each  one  killed  represented  two 
lives — mother  and  pup.  In  almost  any  kind  of  weather, 
the  schooner  would  heave  to  in  the  morning  and  hoist 
out  her  boats,  and,  drifting  away,  leave  them  to  their 
deadly  work  until  a  full  boat  or  darkness  compelled 
them  to  stop.  Many  boats  were  lost  in  the  fog,  and 
their  crews  lost  their  lives  either  from  drowning  or  star 
vation.  Yet  the  profits  were  so  large  that  men  will 
ingly  took  these  chances.  Less  than  half  the  seals 
killed  in  this  way  were  recovered,  as  their  bodies  sank 
very  quickly.  It  is  easily  seen  what  was  to  be  the  fate 
of  a  herd  of  animals  where  the  females,  bearing  only 
one  offspring  at  a  time,  were  being  thus  destroyed.  As 
the  herd  approached  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  the  time 
for  giving  birth  to  the  young  drew  near,  the  females 
moved  through  the  water  with  great  rapidity,  hurrying 
on  to  their  breeding  grounds,  and  very  few  of  them, 
comparatively  speaking,  were  killed.  The  slaughter  in 
the  North  Pacific  proper  was  fearful. 

Before  leaving  Port  Townsend  I  had  been  supplied 
with  printed  notices  warning  sealers  not  to  enter  Ber 
ing  Sea,  and  these  the  Department  expected  me  to 
serve  on  every  vessel  in  the  fleet,  no  matter  of  what 
nationality.  The  number  of  vessels  was  one  hundred 
and  ten,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  I  found  at  the  end 
of  the  season  that  the  force  under  my  command  had 
boarded  and  served  notice  on  one  hundred  and  seven 
of  them.  Some  of  them  had  been  boarded  so  often 

317 


A  Sailor's  Log 

that  their  log  books  were  veritable  collections  of  auto 
graphs  of  American  commanders.  It  had  leaked  out 
before  sailing  that  the  Canadian  vessels  would  refuse 
to  obey  a  warning  served  by  an  American  officer,  and, 
as  I  did  not  wish  to  make  trouble  when  it  could  be 
avoided,  I  took  a  sufficient  number  of  notices  to 
Admiral  Hotham,  who  indorsed  them  in  his  official 
capacity,  which  effectually  spiked  the  guns  of  these 
would-be  sea  lawyers. 

When  finally  ready  I  sent  all  but  two  vessels  to  the 
North  Pacific  to  follow  and  serve  notice  on  the  sealers. 
With  the  Yorktown  and  one  revenue  cutter  I  ran  direct 
to  Unalaska,  where  I  arrived  after  a  very  rough  passage, 
with  much  fog  to  contend  with  about  the  passes.  As 
soon  as  coaled  I  ran  north  and  skirted  the  ice  all  the 
way  around  the  Pribilof  Islands,  to  make  sure  that  no 
sealers  were  lurking^  about  the  sea.  Then,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  cutter,  I  guarded  the  passes  to  prevent 
any  one  from  entering,  while  the  rest  of  my  force  con 
tinued  its  work  to  the  north.  My  men  suffered  from 
exposure  and  the  lack  of  fresh  provisions,  but  we  were 
always  able  to  give  them  all  the  fresh  fish  they  wanted. 
We  had  only  to  stop  the  engines  and  get  the  lines  over 
board,  and  in  a  few  hours  catch  three  or  four  hundred 
pounds  of  beautiful  codfish.  Sometimes  I  gave  them 
salmon,  but  I  soon  found  that  they  could  not  eat  this 
many  days  in  succession — it  was  too  rich.  Codfish 
was  our  mainstay.  The  following  from  my  journal  may 
be  of  interest: 

"  At  Sea,  June  4,  1892. — Had  a  good  breakfast  to 
day — broiled  king  salmon,  potatoes,  cold  reindeer 
roast,  onion  salad,  and  a  slice  of  cold  English  ham — 

318 


Arctic   Scenery 

Delmonico  could  hardly  beat  it.  But  yesterday  I  tried 
to  eat  a  piece  of  bear-meat — well,  a  Chinese  baby  dead 
of  the  smallpox,  or  a  mangy  dog  that  had  lived  on  fish 
and  the  little  bugs  we  sometimes  find  on  berries,  might 
be  something  like  it.  A  kind  skipper  gave  me  the  meat 
before  I  left  Unalaska,  and  my  steward  let  his  skill  out 
on  it.  I  afterward  let  out  almost  my  eternal  soul  on 
account  of  it.  Such  is  life  in  the  arctic,  and  I  am  not 
enjoying  it.  But  as  I  write  this  I  am  surrounded  by 
such  beauty  and  grandeur  and  calmness  as  one  sees 
rarely  in  a  lifetime.  We  are  anchored  in  the  open  Ber 
ing  Sea,  five  miles  from  the  chain  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  and  from  the  deck  one  can  count  over  a  dozen 
of  the  most  graceful,  beautiful  snow-covered  peaks  in 
the  world,  all  dazzling,  blinding  white.  Then  I  can 
see  two  active  volcanoes,  puffing  out  smoke  and  steam 
as  the  devil  snorts  and  roars  inside  the  crust,  and  three 
extinct  ones — all  strange  to  look  at  but  most  beauti 
ful  and  curious.  The  rim  of  the  crater  of  one  of  them 
is  surmounted  by  what  looks,  from  this  distance — 
sixty  miles — like  a  huge  frill  of  lace,  the  snow  on 
the  contorted  lava  giving  the  effect.  Add  to  this 
that  the  day  has  been  the  first  clear  one  we  have 
had,  and  warm,  and  one  would  think  I  might  be  con 
tent,  and  so  I  am  after  a  fashion.  There  is  nothing 
for  me  but  duty,  and,  contrary  to  much  '  guff '  given 
me  in  my  youth  on  that  subject,  it  does  not  fill  the  bill 
entirely. 

"  We  came  down  here  yesterday — or  rather  we 
started  yesterday — from  Unalaska,  to  see  if  we  could 
catch  some  sealers  who  have  for  several  years  made 
this  vicinity  a  sort  of  headquarters  for  their  work.  We 

319 


A  Sailor's  Log 

passed  the  fishing  fleet  on  the  way  down,  hard  at  work 
packing  codfish,  but  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  sealer. 
Indeed,  I  can  not  see  what  they  would  come  here  for, 
as  I  have  not  laid  eyes  on  a  single  seal  or  even  a  pup. 
I  wonder  why  seals  were  made,  anyhow.  And  if  I  had 
my  way  with  the  curious  old  idiots  who  went  about  the 
world  discovering  places — Straits  of  Magellan,  North 
Pacific  Ocean,  Bering  Sea,  etc.,  etc. — I  would  feed 
them  on  bear-meat  and  then  chuck  them  down  one  of 
these  lovely  volcanoes.  We  are  here  to-day  owing 
to  these  idiots,  and  as  I  wished  for  a  quiet  Sunday, 
I  found  a  place  to  anchor;  and  here  we  are,  where  I 
shall  stay  until  day  after  to-morrow,  when  I  hope 
to  do  some  target-firing — using  a  sealer  for  a  target 
if  I  can  find  one — and  then  clear  out  for  the  western 
end  of  the  islands  and  so  back  to  the  beautiful  Una- 
laska. 

"  Sunday,  June  $th. — The  little  blow  of  last  night 
was  the  breaking  out  of  a  southeast  gale,  and  now  the 
weather  is  as  nasty  as  usual  in  these  waters — blowing 
a  gale,  cold  as  charity,  thick  as  mud,  and  raining  in 
torrents.  We  are  snug,  however,  and  shall  hold  on  until 
to-morrow,  and  then  run  to  the  west.  Every  day  that 
passes  is  so  much  gain  for  us  on  our  way  somewhere 
— it  may  be  'Frisco,  it  may  be  China,  or  it  may  be 
some  Atlantic  port.  One  can  imagine  how  low  we 
have  fallen  when  we  look  upon  Unalaska  as  quite  a 
metropolis. 

"  The  men  to-day  have  caught  more  than  two  thou 
sand  pounds  of  codfish  from  the  vessel  in  less  than 
three  hours'  fishing.  It  is  blowing  a  gale,  and  in  spite 
of  it  and  the  pouring  rain  they  would  fish  all  the 

320 


At   Unalaska 

time  if  I  would  permit  it;  but  if  they  were  ordered 
to  do  so  they  would  consider  it  a  great  hardship, 
and  growl  accordingly.  The  life  here  is  more  mo 
notonous  and  isolated  than  I  could  have  thought 
possible. 

"  Iluilnik,  Unalaska,  June  8th. — Here  we  are,  back 
again,  but  no  target  practice  and  no  sealers  so  far. 
Yesterday  morning  the  weather  was  so  bad  that  we  got 
under  way  and  came  back  here.  At  midnight  I  put  the 
ship's  head  off  shore  until  the  fog  lifted,  and  we  saw 
land  for  a  moment,  which  was  all  I  wanted,  and  at 
6  A.  M.  we  were  anchored  in  this  snug  little  hole.  An 
hour  later  the  Corwin  was  in,  and  we  had  our  first  mail 
since  leaving  Port  Townsend.  I  have  a  peck  of  letters, 
of  course,  and  the  newspapers  seem  to  have  begun  on 
me  again. 

"  My  work  here  is  really  beginning  to  crowd  now, 
and  I  have  a  matter  of  vital  importance  on  hand,  in 
which  I  hope  to  succeed;  but  the  chances  are  dreadfully 
against  me.  Every  year  the  British  sealing  fleet  has 
chartered  a  large  steamer  to  meet  it  at  some  out-of- 
the-way  place  in  the  Aleutian  Islands,  where  all  the 
skins  are  transferred  and  so  sent  back  to  Victoria, 
British  Columbia,  and  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions  laid 
in.  Such  action  in  American  waters  is,  of  course, 
illegal,  and  I  am  straining  every  nerve  to  find  their 
place  of  rendezvous  for  this  year.  The  steamer  is  sup 
posed  by  the  Navy  Department  to  be  the  Danube,  and 
if  I  can  find  her  I  shall  seize  her  and  her  cargo  and 
all  the  schooners  that  have  transferred  to  her,  and  take 
them  to  Sitka — I  hope  between  the  I5th  and  25th  of 
June.  Last  year  thirty-eight  sealers  transferred  to  the 

321 


A  Sailor's  Log 

steamer  in  one  day  twenty-five  thousand  skins,  and 
received  from  her  a  large  supply  of  provisions.  Our 
patrol  fleet  was  then  very  small  and  composed  of  slow 
vessels.  I  hope  to  convince  them  that  we  are  not  up 
here  this  year  for  our  health." 


322 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

STRIKING   AT   THE    SOURCE   OF   SUPPLIES 

THE  problem  of  how  to  catch  the  supply  steamer 
was  a  very  interesting  one,  and  many  people  have  asked 
me  how  I  did  it.  The  Navy  Department  had  been 
misled  by  information  purposely  sent  them  from  Vic 
toria,  and  they  in  turn  tried  unintentionally  to  deceive 
me  by  sending  me  this  false  information,  saying  that  it 
came  from  a  reliable  source.  The  rendezvous,  as  given 
by  them,  was  over  eighteen  hundred  miles  from  where 
I  caught  her.  The  case  I  had  to  deal  with  was  similar 
to  that  of  an  enemy's  cruiser  on  your  coast  in  time 
of  war.  What  was  her  objective?  I  knew  that  her 
intention  was  to  take  skins  from  the  fleet  and  give  it 
provisions,  and  therefore  if  I  kept  touch  with  the  fleet 
I  should  eventually  find  the  steamer;  and  I  did.  Sev 
eral  vessels  were  detailed  to  watch  the  schooners  and 
see  which  way  they  were  heading,  and  as  soon  as  I  had 
this  information  I  felt  sure  that  in  that  direction  some 
where  I  would  find  the  steamer  I  was  looking  for. 

It  is  sometimes  an  officer's  duty  to  do  a  thing  that 
his  Government  must  afterward  disavow  and  punish 
him  for  having  done.  Such  a  case  was  the  capture  of 
the  Confederate  cruiser  Florida  in  Bahia,  Brazil,  by  the 
United  States  steamer  Wachusett  during  the  civil 

323 


A  Sailor's  Log 

war.  I  felt  that  I  might  have  to  do  the  same  sort  of 
thing  and  face  the  music.  If  I  found  the  steamer  I 
was  after  in  one  of  our  ports,  having  violated  our  rev 
enue  laws,  it  would  be  all  plain  sailing;  but  suppose 
I  found  her  at  sea?  What  then?  I  read  plainly  be 
tween  the  lines  of  my  orders  that  the  Washington  au 
thorities  considered  it  of  vital  importance  that  she 
should  be  captured,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  to  get 
her  legally  if  I  could,  illegally  if  I  must.  If  I  took 
her  at  sea,  the  Department  could  disavow  my  act  and 
punish  me;  but  in  the  meantime  my  mission  in  the 
North  would  be  accomplished  and  sealing  broken  up, 
at  least  for  that  year.  The  schooners  would  have  to 
go  back  to  Victoria  for  provisions,  and  it  would  then 
be  too  late  for  them  to  return  to  Bering  Sea  and  do 
any  real  harm.  I  again  quote  from  my  journal: 

"  Iluiluik,  June  u,  1892. — We  are  off  to-morrow, 
and  I  am  sending  the  Albatross  to  Port  Townsend  on 
Tuesday.  Yesterday  I  spent  in  bed  with  neuralgia  in 
the  muscles  of  my  wounded  leg — very  painful,  but  I  am 
up  to-day. 

"  The  two  British  ships,  Melpomene  and  Daphne, 
are  in,  and  their  captains  are  fine  chaps  and  seem  ready 
to  help  me  to  knock  these  sealers  out  in  every  way.  Of 
course,  they  don't  know  that  I  intend  to  seize  the 
Danube,  if  I  can  find  her,  but  I  think  they  suspect  me. 

"  Karluk,  Kodiak  Island,  June  i$th. — On  Sunday  we 
left  Iluiluik  in  a  dense  fog,  and  worked  our  way  up 
here,  six  hundred  miles,  where  we  are  suddenly  in  a 
mess.  We  have  caught  two  American  schooners  vio 
lating  the  law,  and  may  have  to  seize  them  both,  which 
will  greatly  embarrass  me  in  my  efforts  to  catch  the 

324 


Big   Fishing 

English  chaps.  Johnson,  in  the  Mohican,  has  seized 
five,  and  I  hear  his  ship  is  damaged  by  grounding.  We 
are  off  as  soon  as  we  can  get  our  anchor  up. 

"  This  afternoon  I  saw  a  wonderful  thing  in  the 
fishing  way — a  haul  of  the  seine  in  which  they  caught 
fifteen  thousand  salmon.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  and 
they  gave  me  all  the  king  salmon  my  gig  could  carry. 
Afterward  our  men  borrowed  the  seine  and  caught  over 
two  thousand,  which  they  are  now  salting  down.  The 
Kodiak  is  the  greatest  salmon  river  in  the  world,  sup 
porting  seven  canneries,  each  of  which  puts  up  over 
six  hundred  thousand  fish  per  year.  The  water  is  abso 
lutely  alive  with  them;  my  cockswain  caught  one  with 
a  boathook  while  we  were  waiting  at  the  beach. 

"  Alitak,  Kodiak  Island,  June  i6th. — Just  before  leav 
ing  Karluk  we  caught  a  fool  of  a  schooner  captain  who 
had  been  violating  the  law;  he  thought  I  did  not  know 
it,  and  gave  us  some  trouble.  He  started  to  get  under 
way  in  the  afternoon  before  I  had  settled  his  case,  but 
I  sent  a  boat  with  orders  for  him  to  anchor  his  schooner 
and  come  on  board.  Before  he  got  to  our  gangway 
he  took  his  hat  off  and  came  over  the  side  with  it  in 
his  hand  and  shaking  as  if  he  were  going  to  have  a  fit. 
I  never  saw  a  man  so  scared  in  my  life.  After  get 
ting  some  information  from  him  he  was  allowed  to 
go  on  his  way. 

'  The  people  up  here  seem  to  think  I  am  some  kind 
of  a  military  governor,  or  something,  and  come  to  me 
with  the  most  absurd  complaints.  I  don't  mind  any  of 
them  until  it  comes  to  the  missionary-school  teachers. 
They  nauseate  me.  The  conditions  up  here,  as  I  see 
them,  are  about  as  bad  as  they  could  be,  and  the  whole 
23  325 


A  Sailor's  Log 

business  is  a  disgrace  to  our  Government;  but  I  am  a 
policeman  this  trip  for  sealers  only. 

"  The  northeast  gale  is  still  raging,  but  we  have 
found  the  sealers'  snug  harbour,  I  think,  and  are  as 
comfortable  as  possible,  anchored  in  a  sort  of  lagoon 
which  can  not  be  seen  from  the  outside.  Six  sealers 
have  run  in  out  of  the  gale,  and  we  have  them  an 
chored  under  our  guns,  where  they  will  stay  until  I  am 
through  with  them.  As  we  came  up  the  coast  this  fore 
noon  we  made  out  three  schooners,  and,  as  it  was  blow 
ing  half  a  gale,  they  tried  to  get  away  from  us;  but  it 
was  no  use.  I  let  this  little  frigate  out  a  link  or  two 
and  just  drove  the  schooners  as  one  would  drive  geese. 

"  We  found  the  Corwin  in  here,  and  as  I  am  satis 
fied  the  transfer  of  skins  will  be  made  in  Prince  Wil 
liam  Sound,  I  have  sent  her  there  to  catch  the  gang, 
if  possible. 

"  Friday,  June  ifth. — Still  the  northeaster  howls, 
and  the  little  Yorktown  tugs  and  quivers  at  her  an 
chors;  but  the  land  keeps  the  sea  off,  and  we  are  snug 
and  cosy.  Three  more  sealers  ran  in  last  night  in  the 
blow,  and  were  much  surprised  to  find  themselves  in 
my  clutches.  One  of  them  gave  away  the  place  of  ren 
dezvous  of  the  English  fleet — Port  Etches,  Prince  Wil 
liam  Sound,  where  I  have  two  vessels  waiting  for  them; 
but  I  shall  run  up  there  myself  to-morrow  afternoon,  I 
think.  It  is  only  three  hundred  miles,  and  I  want  to 
make  sure  of  that  capture  if  I  can. 

"  Port  Etches,  Prince  William  Sound,  I  A.  M.,  June 
2ist. — There  is  no  night  here  at  this  season.  We  left 
Alitak  Sunday  morning,  after  the  gale  had  blown  out, 
and  I  have  been  on  my  feet  almost  ever  since.  There 

326 


A   Disappointment 

are  practically  no  charts  of  this  region,  and  running  full 
speed,  as  we  do  most  of  the  time,  is  anything  but 
funny.  We  got  here  at  midnight,  just  after  sunset, 
and  now,  at  I  A.  M.,  it  is  almost  sunrise. 

"  We  found  the  Mohican  here,  she  having  captured 
three  American  schooners  and  sent  them  to  Sitka,  and 
having  been  herself  on  the  rocks  and  knocked  about 
somewhat.  But  she  will  do  for  service  in  the  Bering 
Sea  this  summer.  The  steamer  to  receive  the  skins  is 
expected  to-morrow  or  the  day  after,  and  I  still  hope 
to  capture  her," 

I  had  made  all  plans  for  the  capture  of  the  steamer, 
and  was  confident  of  success.  The  vessels  of  the  force 
were  gathering  for  the  final  move  when,  on  June  2ist, 
I  ran  into  Port  Etches,  and  to  my  dismay  found  that 
the  United  States  steamer  Mohican  had  been  lying 
there  for  five  days,  doing  just  the  thing  I  had  cautioned 
her  commanding  officer  not  to  do — alarming  the  sealers 
so  that  they  would  neither  transfer  skins  nor  provisions, 
but  seek  another  port  for  that  purpose.  I  jumped  the 
Mohican  out  in  short  order,  and  then  arranged  with 
the  commanding  officer  of  the  Corwin  to  make  the 
seizure.  I  directed  him  to  run  off  to  the  south  for  a 
certain  distance,  and  then  change  his  course  so  as  to 
bring  up  behind  the  end  of  Montague  Island,  about 
twelve  miles  from  Port  Etches,  haul  his  vessel  close 
inshore,  send  down  his  topmasts  and  cover  his  lower 
masts  with  bushes,  so  that  he  would  be  well  hidden  from 
inquisitive  eyes.  He  was  to  remain  in  that  position 
twenty-four  hours,  and  then  run  over  to  Port  Etches 
and  see  what  he  would  find.  The  captain  was  an  able, 
fearless  man,  and  I  knew  he  would  carry  out  my  orders. 

327 


A  Sailor's  Log 

He  said  to  me  that  the  twenty-seven  schooners  then 
in  port  were  well  armed  and  would  fight  to  a  finish 
when  the  time  came.  I  replied  that  he  had  several 
guns  of  his  own,  and  that  he  might  rely  on  the  York- 
town  to  be  somewhere  near  when  the  shooting  began. 
After  the  Corwin  and  Mohican  had  gone  I  visited 
what  seemed  to  be  the  flagship  of  the  sailing  fleet,  a 
handsome  Burgess  schooner  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  having  on  board  a  number  of  gentlemen  who  were 
cruising  during  the  summer  as  a  matter  of  recreation. 
I  told  them  that  I  was  bound  south  to  look  after  mat 
ters  at  Unalaska,  and  asked  that  they  would  warn  all 
arrivals  to  keep  out  of  the  Bering  Sea  during  the  sum 
mer,  as  I  should  certainly  capture  them  if  they  went  in. 
Then  I  cleared  out  at  top  speed,  perfectly  satisfied  that 
a  few  days  would  settle  the  fate  of  the  chap  who  had 
caused  me  so  much  thought  and  trouble.  The  Corwin 
waited  a  few  hours,  when  the  fog  shut  in  as  thick  as 
pea  soup.  The  captain,  fearing  that  the  steamer  might 
get  away  in  the  fog,  decided  after  twelve  hours  that 
the  time  had  come  to  act,  and  proceeded  cautiously 
to  carry  out  my  orders.  He  found  the  British  steamer 
Coquitlan  in  Port  Etches,  and  seized  her.  She  had 
received  about  thirty  thousand  skins,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  seizure,  in  a  dense  fog,  had  her  hatches  open 
and  was  transplanting  cargo  in  violation  of  law.  The 
case  against  her  was  so  plain  that  there  was  no  room 
for  resistance,  and  she  was  towed  to  Sitka  as  a  prize, 
where  she  was  bonded  for  six  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
which  all  went  into  the  United  States  Treasury,  and,  I 
suspect,  paid  most  of  the  expenses  of  our  summer's 
work. 

328 


Warning   the   Sealers 

I  again  quote  from  my  journal: 

"  Unalaska,  June  25th. — Back  again  to  this  me 
tropolis.  On  the  way  out  and  down  the  coast  from 
Port  Etches  the  sealers  were  thick,  all  standing  for 
Port  Etches.  We  were  kept  busy,  day  and  night, 
boarding  them,  and  the  work  was  severe  on  officers  and 
men,  as  it  blew  hard  most  of  the  time  and  the  sea  was 
nasty.  It  was  funny  to  see  them  try  to  get  away  from 
us — in  which  none  succeeded — and  several  had  to  be 
shot  at  to  bring  them  to.  Yesterday  morning  at  day 
light  we  were  in  Uniak  Pass,  on  our  way  here,  and  as 
the  fog  lifted  we  made  out  a  schooner  in  Bering  Sea 
and  went  for  her  at  full  speed.  She  made  sail  and 
tried  to  get  away;  but  three  shots  from  one  of  the 
rapid-fire  guns  stopped  her,  the  third  one  striking 
within  a  few  feet  of  her.  We  took  her  in  tow  and 
brought  her  here,  but  after  a  careful  search  let  her  go, 
as  she  was  a  whaler  bound  for  the  arctic.  If  the  people 
we  sometimes  hear  of  who  think  the  navy  has  nothing 
to  do  could  come  up  among  these  islands  and  see  the 
work  the  navy  is  doing  here  and  hear  the  things 
that  are  said  of  it,  they  would  change  their  minds — 
if  they  possess  such  a  thing. 

"  We  have  warned  nearly  every  one  of  the  one  hun 
dred  vessels  at  sea  when  we  left  Port  Townsend  less 
than  six  weeks  ago,  and  the  navy  is  respected  here 
abouts  as  it  has  never  been  before;  all  hands  have  a  very 
wholesome  regard  for  us.  I  don't  know  what  the  De 
partment  and  Secretary  Tracy  will  think  of  the  work 
we  have  done;  but  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  among 
people  who  know  of  it. 

"Bering  Sea,  July  $th. — We  have  had  the  fog  so 
329 


A  Sailor's  Log 

thick  for  two  days  that  it  seemed  as  if  one  could  make 
a  hole  in  it  with  the  finger,  and  the  finger  would  pop, 
like  a  cork  out  of  a  bottle,  when  it  came  out.  But 
we  must  go,  all  the  same,  sleep  or  no  sleep. 

"  We  left  Unalaska  on  the  3d,  after  a  week  of  very 
hard  work  coaling,  cleaning  engines,  etc.,  after  our  driv 
ing  trip  to  the  north.  I  bundled  the  Adams  off  on  the 
ist,  the  Rush  on  the  2d,  and  we  followed  on  the  3d. 
Captain  Parr,  of  the  Melpomene,  says  he  thinks  I  am 
interested  in  the  coal  contract,  as  I  seem  disposed  to 
burn  up  all  there  is  in  Bering  Sea.  He  does  not  pro 
pose  to  trouble  himself  over  Canadian  sealers,  and  will 
take  things  easy,  which  I  can't  do;  it  isn't  my  way. 
Unalaska  was  at  its  best  when  we  left — plenty  of  fish 
and  flowers;  the  mountains  covered  with  snow,  and 
long  arms  of  it  running  down  into  the  valleys  and  right 
into  the  grass  and  flowers.  No  one  would  credit  a 
picture  of  it.  In  five  days  after  the  snow  has  melted 
the  grass  is  knee-high,  and  the  ground  covered  with 
violets,  lupines,  anemones,  and  beautiful  orchids,  but 
no  perfume  to  any  of  them.  The  Alaskan  lily  is  also 
abundant,  a  very  beautiful,  almost  black  flower.  Salm 
on  and  trout  and  salmon-trout  in  profusion,  and  such 
line-fishing  as  I  never  heard  of  before;  but  I  had  no 
time  for  an  hour  of  it — too  busy  to  think  of  it.  All  the 
returns  for  the  quarter,  not  only  for  my  own  ship,  but 
for  all  the  vessels  of  the  fleet,  must  pass  through  my 
hands  and  receive  my  approval,  with  no  one  to  help  me 
but  an  officer  who  has  a  watch  to  stand.  I  have  very 
little  time  to  amuse  myself. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  we  passed  close  to 
the  island  of  Bogosloff,  an  arctic  volcano  which  came 

330 


A   Volcano 

up  in  1874  and  has  not  yet  cooled  off,  to  judge  from 
the  clouds  of  smoke  constantly  rising  from  its  surface — 
not  from  one  particular  spot,  like  Vesuvius  or  Etna, 
but  from  the  entire  surface  of  the  island,  making  a  cone 
of  steam,  wafted  by  the  wind  this  way  or  that,  and 
reaching  many  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  air.  We  saw 
it  from  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  and  soon  after  we 
passed  it  the  fog  shut  down  on  us  and  here  we  are — a 
sorry  sight  to  see.  The  coal  sent  us  is  cheap,  dirty 
stuff  from  Nanaimo,  British  Columbia,  and  makes  a 
dense  black  smoke  which  unites  with  the  fog  and  spat 
ters  the  little  ship  until  she  looks  like  a  chimney-sweep. 
Officers  and  men  are  constantly  black  and  clothes 
ruined. 

"July  6th. — A  gray  day,  or  rather  night;  every 
thing  is  gray — sky  slate-gray,  water  blue-gray,  air 
smoke-gray — all  most  depressing.  We  are  working  a 
traverse  up  to  St.  Paul's  Island  and  covering  as  much 
ground  as  possible,  but  as  yet  no  sign  of  sealers.  It 
is  very  like  old  blockade  days — every  one  on  the  look 
out,  lights  screened,  and  no  fog  whistle.  Very  unlike 
the  White  Squadron  picnic. 

"  The  papers  say  that  Congress  is  going  to  give 
admiral's  full  pay  to  two  officers  who  have  been  com 
manding  squadrons.  I  wonder  if  they  will  give  me 
any  additional  pay?  I  command  more  vessels  than 
both  these  captains  together,  and  do  more  work  in 
a  month  than  they  do  in  a  year.  No  commander  ever 
had  such  a  command  before,  either  in  our  service  or 
any  other  that  I  know  of,  but  I  hear  of  no  more  pay 
for  me." 


331 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

THE   HOME    OF   THE   SEALS 

"  St.  Paul  Island,  July  8th. — I  spent  last  night  on 
deck  in  a  dense  fog  looking  for  this  blessed  island  and 
listening  to  the  seals  jump  and  play  around  us.  As 
soon  as  we  came  within  seventy-five  miles  of  the  land 
we  found  them  thick,  and  I  don't  wonder  the  sealers 
want  to  get  in  here,  for  they  could  fill  a  schooner  in  a 
short  time.  The  fog  was  too  much  for  us  all  night,  but 
this  morning  early  we  made  the  land  and  anchored  at 
ten.  As  soon  as  I  had  had  my  breakfast  I  went  on 
shore  with  most  of  the  officers  and  visited  one  of  the 
'  rookeries/  We  lay  down  flat  in  the  grass,  and,  peer 
ing  over  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  found  ourselves  within 
twenty  feet  of  thousands  of  the  beautiful  and  much- 
protected  animals.  The  bulls  were  savage,  and  from 
their  constant  fights  much  scarred  and  cut  up,  and 
hence  not  so  handsome  as  earlier  in  the  season,  but  still 
very  impressive  and  dignified.  Each  had  his  harem  of 
thirty  or  forty  females,  and  woe  unto  the  male  who 
ventured  near!  If  any  wife  tried  to  escape  she  was 
viciously  torn  and  hauled  back  to  her  place.  The  two- 
year-olds,  male  and  female,  are  not  permitted  on  the 
breeding  ground,  and  it  was  most  amusing  to  watch 
them  form  into  parties  of  eight  or  ten  and  try  to  slip 

332 


The   Home   of  the   Seals 

past  the  old  bulls.  As  soon  as  one  discovered  them, 
the  old  chap  nearest  to  them  would  rise  on  his  hind 
legs,  bellow  viciously,  and  make  a  start  toward  them, 
when  the  whole  gang  would  tumble  over  the  rocks  into 
the  sea  and  go  frolicking  away  like  a  lot  of  children. 
The  young  ones — I  saw  one  born  while  watching  them 
— were  thick  all  over  and  among  the  rocks,  and  it  was 
most  curious  to  watch  the  mother,  as  she  came  from 
the  water,  pick  out  and  suckle  her  own  pup.  There 
were  thousands  of  them,  all  bleating  like  lambs,  and 
making  enough  noise  to  deafen  one;  yet  the  mother 
always  recognised  the  voice  of  her  own  pup,  and 
dragged  herself  through  the  lot  until  she  got  to  it.  The 
pups  did  not  know  the  mother,  and  many  would  try 
to  get  to  her,  but  she  snapped  and  bit  until  she  got 
the  right  one.  It  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  inter 
esting  sights  of  my  rather  varied  experience. 

"  We  walked  back  to  the  killing  grounds  over  a 
carpet  of  such  beautiful  wild  flowers  as  I  have  never 
before  seen ;  my  cabin  is  full  of  them,  but  all  odourless. 

"  At  the  killing  grounds  the  natives  had  just  driven 
out  and  killed  five  hundred  seals,  and  as  a  three-year- 
old  was  being  skinned  a  spear  head  was  found  com 
pletely  inclosed  and  healed  up  in  his  flesh.  It  is  the 
kind  used  by  the  Alaska  Indians,  and  must  have  been 
in  the  seal  two  years. 

"When  I  had  returned  on  board  and  had  my 
dinner,  the  officer  of  the  deck  reported  a  schooner  in 
sight  at  sea.  The  boats  were  down,  lower  booms  out, 
and  fires  banked;  but  just  ten  minutes  after  I  gave  the 
order  we  were  under  way  and  humming  out  after 
her.  It  was  most  gratifying  to  see  how  quickly 

333 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  quietly  everything  was  done.  As  we  neared  the 
schooner  I  was  surprised  to  see  her  lower  her  mainsail 
and  heave  to,  but  it  was  explained  when  we  passed 
under  her  stern  and  found  she  was  our  old  friend  Jane 
Gray,  which  we  had  seized,  towed  into  Unalaska,  and 
afterward  released.  Her  captain  said  he  did  not  want 
any  more  of  our  rapid-fire  practice  at  him. 

"  Saturday  Night. — More  fog  and  a  nasty  blow 
from  the  southeast  which  gives  us  all  the  comforts  of  a 
sea  life  while  at  anchor.  I  have,  however,  managed 
to  get  the  whole  crew  ashore  to  have  a  look  at  the  seal 
rookeries,  and  they  are  back  on  board  with  a  message 
from  the  agent  that  they  have  behaved  so  well  that  he 
would  not  object  to  any  number  of  the  same  kind  com 
ing  whenever  they  please.  I  am  glad  the  boys  were 
good. 

"  Sunday,  July  loth. — It  cleared  for  just  two  hours 
to-day,  and  during  that  time  the  Melpomene  came 
in,  rolling  and  wallowing  like  a  tub,  and  anchored  near 
us.  I  begin  now  to  understand  why  the  seals  selected 
these  islands  for  their  home:  they  felt  that  nothing 
but  a  seal  could  stand  such  a  climate. 

"  Unalaska,  July  i$th. — I  am  perfectly  swamped 
with  work.  The  letters  are  piled  up  until  I  can  see  no 
end  to  them,  and  I  feel  dead  beat.  We  came  in  late 
on  the  1 2th,  and  when  I  saw  the  boat-load  of  mail-bags 
come  off  I  knew  what  was  ahead  of  me,  and  have  strug 
gled  with  pen  and  ink  ever  since,  and  yet  do  not  see 
the  end  of  it.  I  have  seized  the  British  steamer  Co- 
quitlan  and  sent  her  to  Sitka.  I  have  no  doubt  the 
newspapers  will  make  all  sorts  of  a  row  about  it,  but 
that  won't  save  her  and  her  thirty  thousand  seal  skins. 

334 


- 

g     S 


»!•      6 

^     2 
H 


A  Supply   Ship   Seized 

The  value  of  the  prize  is  about  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  will  help  the  Government  to  pay  damages 
if  the  arbitration  goes  against  us.  Captain  Hooper, 
of  the  Corwin,  carried  out  my  instructions  carefully  and 
intelligently,  and  the  result  is  a  happy  one.  He  found 
the  Coquitlan  at  Port  Etches,  surrounded  by  thirty 
English  sealers,  and  when  he  made  the  seizure  all  the 
Indians  on  the  different  schooners  made  for  the  shore, 
swearing  that  they  were  done  with  the  sealing  business. 
After  a  time  they  were  induced  to  return  on  board,  and 
the  vessels  put  out  for  Victoria;  so  we  are  done  with 
that  lot,  and  the  rest  are  so  scared  that  I  doubt  if  one 
of  them  will  come  into  the  sea.  The  Coquitlan  had 
supplies  for  all  the  sealing  fleet,  and  as  they  were  cap 
tured  with  the  vessel,  of  course  the  sealers  must  go 
home  for  more  before  they  can  go  on  with  their  work, 
and  before  they  can  get  back  the  season  will  be  over. 
I  am  quite  satisfied  with  it  all,  and  hope  the  Secretary 
may  be  the  same. 

"  There  has  not  been  a  sealer  in  the  Bering  Sea  this 
season,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  they  won't  come. 

"  It  is  amusing  to  know  the  ferocious  reputation 
I  am  getting  up  here.  They  seem  to  think  I  am  going 
to  eat  all  the  sealers  I  catch,  and  I  am  held  up  as  a 
terror  to  the  crews  of  all  whalers  and  other  merchant 
ships.  The  effect  is  good,  but  it  makes  me  laugh  when 
I  hear  about  it.  There  is  one  coal  ship  here  with  a 
union  crew,  and  I  am  afraid  I  shall  have  trouble  with 
them.  The  captain  has  appealed  to  me,  and,  on  looking 
into  the  matter,  I  find  that  they  won't  work  unless 
they  have  coffee  at  nine  in  the  morning.  I  asked  if 
they  did  not  want  tea  and  toast  in  the  afternoon,  and 

335 


A  Sailor's  Log 

told  them  that  I  would  double  iron  the  whole  gang 
and  put  them  on  bread  and  water  where  the  dogs 
wouldn't  bite  them,  and  if  I  heard  another  word  from 
them  I  would  stop  the  bread.  The  effect  was  good, 
and  they  are  working  very  well. 

"  Saturday,  July  i6th. — I  gave  myself  a  holiday  to 
day  and  spent  it  in  the  open  air  catching  trout.  It  has 
been  a  gloriously  clear  day — a  thing  seldom  seen  in  this 
country,  but  now  I  have  to  face  double  work  to  make 
up  for  it.  I  am  run  down  and  can  not  sleep,  and  the 
doctor  urged  me  to  take  a  rest. 

"  July  i8th. — The  Danube  has  come  in  from  Vic 
toria  with  coal  and  stores  for  the  English  ships,  and  I 
see,  from  the  Canadian  papers  she  brought,  that  they 
are  giving  me  a  scoring  for  the  capture  of  the  Co- 
quitlan.  Well,  we  have  the  steamer,  and  Uncle  Samuel 
is  well  ahead  of  the  game.  The  idea  of  any  one  daring 
to  execute  our  laws  seems  more  than  the  Canucks 
can  stand. 

"  July  ipth. — Something  has  happened,  I  don't 
know  just  what;  but  the  English  captain  is  sending  a 
ship  at  once  to  Victoria,  and  I  have  news  that  a  sealer 
or  two  has  come  into  the  sea,  and  I  am  off  after  them. 
I  don't  know  what  may  happen  in  the  next  month,  but 
I  shall  keep  my  end  up  as  well  as  I  can. 

"  At  Sea,  July  2ist,  10  P.  M. — Night  before  last, 
when  the  news  was  confirmed  that  a  British  sealer  had 
come  into  the  sea,  I  hurried  out  after  her  with  two  cut* 
ters,  as  soon  as  we  could  get  steam,  just  at  midnight, 
in  the  blackest  fog  I  ever  saw.  One  officer  swears  it 
was  so  dense  that  it  slowed  the  vessel  down  running 
against  it.  All  yesterday  and  part  of  to-day  I  have  been 

336 


Ugly  Weather 

searching  for  the  sealer,  but  without  success.  This 
afternoon  we  landed  an  officer  and  a  dozen  men,  armed 
and  rationed  for  twelve  days,  with  a  good  sailing 
launch,  to  guard  the  only  pass  he  can  get  out  of,  and 
later  on  we  shall  probably  catch  him.  Now  we  are  on 
our  way  to  the  Seal  Islands  to  look  up  matters  there — 
so  we  go,  always  on  the  jump. 

"  Friday  Night,  Island  of  St.  George. — This  has  been 
the  devil's  own  day.  I  was  called  at  half  past  three 
this  morning  by  a  message  that  a  schooner  was  in  sight, 
but  when  I  reached  the  deck  found  that  it  was  a  whaling 
bark.  But  once  awake  I  stayed  up,  having  had  about 
four  hours'  sleep.  By  noon  it  was  blowing  hard,  and 
as  thick  as  pea  soup  again,  and  in  such  weather  we 
spent  the  day  until  6  P.  M.,  when  we  found  this  island 
and  anchored  with  the  sea  breaking  on  the  shore  so 
heavily  that  no  boat  could  land,  and  so  we  shall  have 
to  hang  on  here  until  morning  to  see  what  we  can  do. 
Just  now  the  orderly  comes  to  report  that  the  officer 
of  the  deck  says  we  are  dragging  anchor.  The  ship 
is  most  uneasy,  and  the  seals  are  bellowing  until  I 
can't  hear  myself  think.  I  must  go  on  deck,  where  I 
shall  probably  spend  most  of  the  night  looking  after 
the  ship. 

"  Saturday  Night,  July  2^d. — I  did  spend  most  of 
last  night  on  deck,  and  early  this  morning  the  sea  ran 
down  so  that  we  could  get  a  boat  ashore  with  some 
mail;  then  we  pulled  out  in  another  dense  fog,  and 
a  fine  day  we  had  of  it.  However,  one  day  up  here  is 
much  like  another — all  fog  and  lookout.  We  certainly 
sha'n't  get  a  foul  bottom  from  lying  still  during  these 
six  months. 

337 


A  Sailor's  Log 

"  Sunday,  July  24th. — We  have  seen  the  land  oc 
casionally  to-day,  or,  rather,  we  have  seen  a  white  line 
of  angry  surf  breaking  on  the  rocks.  No  end  of  seals 
playing  around  and  near  the  ship.  They  remind  me 
more  of  a  frolicking  lot  of  school  children  than  of  any 
thing  else.  I  wish  Russia  had  them  all  back  again,  and 
these  blessed  islands  with  their  beastly  fogs,  too.  We 
should  probably  have  other  n^sty  work  to  do,  but  noth 
ing  to  equal  this.  Chile  was  worse,  but  there  we  had 
the  possibility  of  a  fight  every  day  to  make  the 
time  pass. 

"  Unalaska,  July  2fth. — Just  out  of  a  very  bad  gale, 
which  has  lasted  since  Sunday.  Now  I  suppose  I  have 
raised  the  devil  sure  enough.  The  Rush  found  the 
British  schooner  Winifred,  and  I  have  seized  her  under 
our  revenue  laws,  instead  of  under  the  modus  vivendi, 
and  shall  send  her  to  Sitka  on  Monday.  Of  course,  the 
Canadians  will  raise  a  howl,  and  it  may  be  that  our  own 
people  won't  sustain  me.  But  I  am  right,  all  the  same, 
and  shall  stand  to  my  guns.  The  reason  I  have  done 
this  is  because  the  captain  of  the  Winifred  commanded 
the  Borealis  last  year  and  raided  the  rookeries  on  St. 
Paul  Island,  killing  four  hundred  seals.  The  year  be 
fore  he  commanded  the  Adele,  raided  the  island,  and 
killed  three  hundred  and  fifty  seals.  This  year  he  trans 
ferred  cargo  in  one  of  our  ports  without  license,  which 
renders  him  liable  to  imprisonment  and  forfeiture  of 
his  vessel.  For  raiding  he  is  liable  to  ten  years  in 
prison.  If  I  turn  him  over  to  the  English,  nothing  will 
be  done  to  him  for  raiding,  so  I  determined  to  send  him 
in  and  let  our  courts  have  a  shy  at  him.  The  British 
finally  yielded,  and  the  sealer  Winifred  is  mine.  Her 

338 


Capture   of  the   Winifred 

captain,  the  most  noted  pirate  in  Bering  Sea,  will  go 
to  Sitka  in  her,  and  I  shall  be  surprised  if  he  does  not 
spend  the  next  ten  years  of  his  life  in  the  penitentiary. 

"  We  have  also  seized  and  sent  to  Sitka  the  Jane 
Gray,  the  American  schooner  we  have  seen  before.  In 
fact,  we  are  raising  considerable  of  a  row,  I  am  afraid, 
but  we  are  stopping  sealing  in  Bering  Sea,  which  is 
what  I  was  sent  up  here  to  do. 

"  Friday  Night,  July  2$>th. — No  one  who  has  not 
seized  an  English  sealer  under  the  guns  of  the  English 
navy  can  know  just  how  much  writing  that  calls  for — 
not  to  speak  of  the  bluff — nor  can  guess  what  yesterday 
and  to-day  have  been  to  me.  I  have  convinced  the 
senior  English  officer  in  Bering  Sea  that  my  course  was 
the  proper  one,  and  he  has  so  stated  to  me  in  his  official 
letter  on  the  subject;  and  now  that  it  is  all  done  with, 
I  have  fits  of  the  shakes  when  I  think  of  the  volcano 
that  was  under  us,  and  how  close  it  was  to  the  sur 
face.  A  few  more  gray  hairs  in  my  head  tell  the 
story,  and  to-morrow  I  am  taking  the  English  officers 
out  on  a  fishing  picnic  to  show  how  friendly  we  are. 
'Tis  a  funny  world  we  live  in,  and  I  seem  to  strike  many 
of  the  sensational  snags.  Of  course,  I  have  had  to 
write  some  sort  of  an  account  of  all  the  business  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy;  but  I  have  made  it  very  short, 
for  the  amount  of  writing  and  work  has  been  greater 
than  could  be  imagined,  and  in  addition  I  have  taken  in 
four  hundred  tons  of  coal  since  we  came  in  here.  But 
I  shall  go  fishing  to-morrow,  and  be  ready  for  more 
work  the  day  after.  The  Albatross  will  leave  for  Sitka 
on  Monday  or  Tuesday,  towing  the  sealer,  and  then  we 
shall  put  to  sea  and  try  to  find  some  more  of  the  gang 

339 


A  Sailor's  Log 

who  have  boasted  in  Victoria  that  '  no  Yankee  cruiser 
should  ever  overhaul  them,  for  they  had  a  strong  Gov 
ernment  back  of  them/ 

"  We  all  play  a  pretty  strong  hand  sometimes.  It 
may  be  that  we  shall  come  to  grief  for  it.  I  hope  not. 

"  July  $ist. — We  had  a  glorious  picnic  yesterday, 
and  such  fishing  as  I  had  never  dreamed  of;  but  on  re 
turning  I  found  that  I  had  been  stung  on  the  hand  by 
some  sort  of  a  beast  which  had  given  me  a  fist  as  large 
as  Sullivan's. 

"  Before  leaving  yesterday  morning  I  had  ordered 
the  search  of  the  American  whaling  bark  Lydia,  of 
San  Francisco,  suspecting  that  she  had  seal  skins  on 
board.  On  my  return,  the  searching  officer  reported 
a  barrel  found  marked  '  Salmon/  and  on  opening  it  dis 
covered  fourteen  salted  fur-seal  skins.  The  captain  had 
tried  to  put  them  on  board  the  whaling  bark  North 
ern  Light,  for  'Frisco,  at  midnight  the  night  before, 
but  our  men  were  too  much  for  him.  Of  course,  we 
seized  the  Lydia,  and  have  sent  her  to  Sitka,  which  will 
raise  a  howl  in  the  'Frisco  papers,  and  cause  me  to  be 
called  all  the  scoundrels  on  earth;  but  I  don't  care  a 
sou.  These  whalers  are  a  set  of  infernal  pirates,  and  I 
shall  run  in  some  more  of  them  if  they  give  me  the 
chance. 

"  The  Adams  came  in  this  morning  and  reports  the 
capture  of  the  English  schooner  Mountain  Chief,  of 
Victoria,  caught  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  Nelson  put 
an  officer  and  men  on  board  of  her,  and  she  will  be  in 
to-morrow,  when  I  shall  turn  her  over  to  the  senior 
British  officer  and  ask  him  to  keep  her  out  of  the  sea 
in  future,  or  we  will  blow  the  stuffing  out  of  her. 

340 


A  Nest  of  Pirates 

"  At  Sea,  Two  Hundred  Miles  Northwest  of  St.  Paid 
Island,  August  6th. — As  soon  as  our  last  mail  closed  we 
put  to  sea  in  a  dense  fog  for  the  False  Pass,  to  pick 
up  the  landing  party,  which  had  been  on  shore  thirteen 
days.  The  distance  was  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
miles,  and  we  ran  it  up  without  seeing  anything  but 
the  fog,  slowed  the  engines,  got  a  cast  of  the  lead, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  made  out  breakers  ahead  and  close 
aboard.  I  rang  her  full  speed  astern,  and  let  go  the  an 
chor,  and  when  the  fog  cleared  in  the  night  we  were 
just  one  mile  out  of  position,  which  I  call  the  best 
piece  of  navigating  I  ever  heard  of,  and  I  give  the 
full  credit  for  it  to  Conway,  our  navigating  officer. 

"  At  10  A.  M.  day  before  yesterday  the  landing 
party  got  off  the  beach,  through  the  heavy  surf,  and 
reported  on  board  in  excellent  condition  and  having 
done  good  service.  They  had  captured  a  number  of 
small  native  boats  engaged  in  sea-otter  hunting 
against  the  law,  taken  from  them  their  skins  and  guns, 
and  released  them  with  a  warning.  On  the  day  of 
our  arrival  they  had  had  a  brush  with  a  small  steamer, 
which  got  away  from  them  in  the  fog  after  they  had 
fired  five  hundred  rounds  into  her  from  their  rifles 
and  thought  they  surely  had  her.  The  whole  place 
is  a  perfect  nest  of  pirates;  but  I  have  not  the  time 
to  treat  them  as  they  deserve,  as  we  must  keep  con 
stantly  moving  in  order  to  prevent  our  Canadian  friends 
from  poaching  in  Bering  Sea.  The  whole  condition 
of  Alaska,  so  far  as  the  execution  of  the  law  is  con 
cerned,  is  a  disgrace  to  our  Government,  and  I  shall 
so  report;  but  it  will  not  do  any  good. 

"  We  are  now  on  a  trip  of  two  thousand  miles,  cov- 
23  341 


A  Sailor's  Log 

ering  the  sea  as  perfectly  as  I  can,  but  so  far  have  seen 
nothing  like  a  sealer.  To-day  we  have  seen  more,  seals 
than  during  all  the  rest  of  our  cruising  away  from  the 
islands.  They  all  seem  to  be  feeding,  and  are  probably 
the  cows  who  have  young  on  the  islands.  The  water 
has  been  covered  with  a  peculiar  white,  greasy-looking 
substance,  and  birds  of  all  kinds  are  about  in  thousands 
— all  of  which  may  or  may  not  have  to  do  with  the 
presence  of  the  seals.  There  is  much  yet  to  be  learned 
about  these  animals,  and  we  are  not  going  about  it 
in  the  best  way.  The  Government  should  send  some 
hard-headed  chap,  with  good  common  sense  and  no 
theories,  to  study  them.  One  day,  some  time  ago,  a 
naturalist,  sent  by  the  Government,  came  to  me  and 
reported  two  dead  cow  seals  on  the  beach.  This  looked 
as  if  there  had  been  a  raid  on  the  rookeries,  and  I  felt 
dreadfully.  The  man  was  closely  questioned,  and  said 
he  had  examined  them  for  sex,  etc.  Stanley  Brown 
found  the  two  animals,  dead  as  reported,  but  they 
proved  to  be  sea-lion  pups — about  as  much  like  a  seal 
as  a  black  lamb  is  like  a  pig.  So  goes  the  Government 
money. 

"  August  ?th. — I  seem  to  do  nothing  these  days  but 
cruise  around  in  the  fog,  which  is  black  to-day.  Even 
the  seals  seem  to  have  had  enough  of  it,  and  have  dis 
appeared.  We  shall  get  down  to  Attu  in  a  couple  of 
days,  and  if  we  find  no  sealers  there  I  shall  feel  per 
fectly  satisfied  that  there  are  none  in  Bering  Sea;  in 
fact,  I  am  satisfied  now  that  there  are  not  enough  to 
kill  to  any  extent." 


342 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

CRUISING    IN    HIGH    LATITUDES 

"  August  nth. — We  have  to-day  been  to  Uncle 
Sam's  western  limit,  and  I  do  not  think  much  of  it  aa 
a  garden  spot,  though  it  was  very  pretty — what  we 
could  see  of  it  through  fog  and  clouds — beautiful 
green  mountains  above  the  nasty,  rocky  coast,  streaked 
with  snow  and  blurred  over  with  fleecy  clouds,  and  half 
veiled  in  fog.  For  the  last  three  days  we  have  had 
better  weather — not  a  gale  of  wind  in  all  that  time,  and 
no  really  bad  fogs — most  of  the  time  rather  clear,  with 
smooth  water. 

"  At  daylight  this  morning  we  made  Attu  in  a 
bank  of  fog,  and  had  to  lay  off  and  on  for  two  hours 
before  we  could  make  out  anything  to  run  for.  About 
eight  o'clock  we  '  caught  on/  as  the  boys  say,  and  soon 
had  a  boat  on  shore  to  learn  if  any  sealers  had  been 
about.  None  had  been  seen,  so  we  kept  away  to  the 
east  again  and  are  now  running  for  Unalaska,  where 
we  should  be  on  the  I3th.  Up  to  to-day  we  have  made, 
on  this  trip,  thirteen  hundred  miles,  and  not  a  sign 
of  a  poacher,  which  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
are  pretty  scarce  hereabouts.  I  shall  be  powerful  glad 
when  it  is  all  over  and  we  can  see  some  blue  sky  and 
water  again  in  place  of  this  everlasting  gray,  which  I 

343 


A  Sailor's  Log 

am  sure  is  hurting  the  eyes  of  all  hands  as  well  as  our 
spirits.  The  little  ship  begins  to  show  the  effects  of 
her  twenty-five  thousand  miles  since  last  October  in 
the  way  of  leaky  tubes,  and  we  shall  have  to  lay  up  ten 
days  to  get  things  in  first-class  shape  again  before  our 
next  trip.  If  we  had  good  coal  we  could  do  the  work 
without  the  least  bother,  but  the  Department  in  its 
wisdom  (?)  has  sent  out  cheap,  nasty  Nanaimo  coal, 
which  hurts  everything — including  my  temper. 

"  Friday,  August  I2th. — We  have  been  spinning 
along  to-day,  without  the  least  trouble,  at  a  good  fast 
rate,  and  if  nothing  unforeseen  happens  we  shall  be 
at  Iluiluik  to-morrow  before  noon.  We  have  to-day 
seen  the  sun  set  for  the  first  time  in  Bering  Sea,  and  it 
was  a  strange  and  beautiful  sight.  Maybe  the  sky  was 
the  same  blue  it  used  to  be,  but  I  had  not  seen  it  for 
so  long  it  was  very  delightful  to  look  at.  Such  a  relief 
from  the  gray  we  have  had  for  three  months!  Just 
before  the  sun  set  the  fog  lifted,  and  we  saw  a  beautiful 
snow-streaked  peak  eighty-five  miles  away.  It  has 
been  a  wonderful  day  for  this  sea,  and  I  fear  we  shall 
not  have  many  more  such.  The  orderly  just  comes 
to  say  it  is  very  thick  on  deck,  and  that  the  officer  of 
the  watch  wants  me,  so  I  will  go  and  take  my  Scotch- 
mist  bath. 

"  Dutch  Harbour,  Unalaska,  August  i6th. — I  have 
had  no  time  to  write  since  we  came  in  here,  because 
of  the  vast  amount  of  work  on  my  hands;  but  now  I 
begin  to  see  daylight  through  it,  and  also  see  an  end 
to  our  stay  in  Bering  Sea.  We  came  in  here  at  noon 
on  the  1 3th,  and  found  no  ships  except  the  two  Eng 
lishmen,  who  are  always  in  port.  The  vessel  that 

344 


Good  Shooting 

our  landing  party  fired  on  at  False  Pass  proves  to  be 
the  American  steam  schooner  Polar  Bear,  which  put  in 
here  for  medical  aid,  her  chief  engineer  having  a  bullet 
through  his  forearm.  The  vessel  was  riddled  with 
bullets  fore  and  aft,  showing  that  our  boys  shot  pretty 
straight.  The  captain,  of  course,  vows  that  he  was 
fired  on  without  provocation,  and  I  have  no  doubt  the 
newspapers  will  give  me  no  end  of  a  blackguarding 
about  it.  None  of  the  Polar  Bear's  crew  can  explain 
why  they  neither  showed  their  colours,  nor  answered 
the  hail,  nor  stopped  when  fired  on,  except  that  they 
had  a  proper  *  funk '  on,  and  ran  below  and  hid  them 
selves. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  I4th  the  Danube  came 
in,  bringing  a  large  mail,  and  I  have  been  so  full  of 
official  reports  that  I  can  not  think  coherently  of  any 
thing  else.  The  Secretary  sends  me  two  long  tele 
grams,  neither  of  which  has  one  word  of  reference  to 
my  actions  up  here,  approval  or  otherwise. 

"  August  ifth. — To-day  Captain  Parr,  of  the  Mel 
pomene,  came  for  me  to  go  fishing.  The  sport  was 
such  as  one  will  only  see  in  this  region,  I  imagine — 
salmon-trout  by  the  hundred,  and  the  salmon  so  thick 
that  every  few  minutes  we  had  one  hooked,  sometimes 
in  the  mouth,  but  more  often  in  the  fins  or  stomach. 
The  river  was  so  crowded  with  them  that  we  could 
have  crossed  on  the  fishes'  backs  if  they  had  not  been 
so  slippery.  I  have  often  heard  the  stories  of  how  these 
creatures  crowd  themselves  to  death  in  the  shoal 
waters,  and  now  I  have  seen  it  for  myself.  There  were 
thousands  of  them  pushing  and  wriggling  up  stream, 
where  the  water  was  only  a  few  inches  deep,  until  they 

345 


A  Sailor's  Log 

were  absolutely  forced  out  on  the  dry  ground,  and 
there  lay  dead  in  heaps  until  the  air  was  foul  with  the 
stench.  When  I  came  home  the  Ranger  and  the  Mohi 
can  had  arrived,  and  now,  near  midnight,  I  am  just 
through  with  their  captains  and  their  numerous  re 
ports.  All  have  been  busily  cruising,  and  no  one  has 
seen  a  sealer.  I  am  convinced  that  we  have  captured 
the  only  ones  that  have  come  in  to  the  sea. 

"  Friday,  August  ipth. — We  had  a  jolly  dinner  in 
the  wardroom  last  night — pork  and  beans  the  piece  de 
resistance.  It  blew  a  nasty  southeast  gale  all  day,  and 
rained  in  true  Alaska  style,  but  the  lads  were  glad  to 
have  me  at  their  table,  and  the  t  manner  of  them  '  took 
away  all  the  discomfort  of  the  southeaster.  Captain 
Hooper,  of  the  Corwin,  was  in  the  party,  and  proved  a 
jolly  companion.  As  we  sat  over  our  coffee  and  cigars, 
with  the  wind  roaring  and  the  rain  pelting  down, 
there  came  the  flash  of  a  signal  outside;  presently  the 
Adams  came  pounding  in  against  the  sea,  and,  as  Nel 
son  came  over  the  side  in  his  dripping  sou'wester,  our 
wardroom  party  broke  up,  and  we  three  commanding 
officers  retired  to  my  cabin  to  learn  the  news.  '  Noth 
ing  in  the  shape  of  a  sealer/  said  Nelson, '  but  plenty  of 
wind,  and  as  thick  as  pea  soup/  The  old  chap  was 
much  cut  up  when  I  told  him  the  orders  had  come  that 
he  had  to  stay  in  Bering  Sea  until  December  ist,  but 
he  took  it  like  the  good  seaman  he  is,  and,  after  talk 
ing  matters  over,  went  to  his  ship  apparently  content. 
Hooper  remained  with  me  all  night  rather  than  face 
the  gale  for  a  mile  or  so. 

"  The  Adams  has  something  wrong  with  one  of  her 
bottom  valves,  and  to-day  our  divers  have  been  under 

346 


Arctic   Fruits 

her  and  made  it  right;  but  we  are  all  more  or  less 
lame  ducks  from  the  miserable  coal  we  have  had  to 
use.  The  Mohican  and  Ranger  will  not  be  able  to 
cruise  for  four  or  five  days,  and  I  doubt  if  the  York- 
town  can  get  away  for  a  week;  but  it  fortunately 
makes  little  difference — there  are  no  sealers  to  catch. 
They  are  scared  stiff  and  couldn't  be  paid  to  come  in — 
that  is,  not  one  of  any  size  or  value.  Of  course,  small 
things,  like  those  we  have  taken,  will  or  may  take 
the  chance,  because  the  vessels  are  not  worth  a  thou 
sand  dollars,  and,  if  they  are  lucky,  they  make  six  or 
eight  thousand  in  as  many  days. 

"  To-day  I  have  spent  among  the  ships,  hurrying 
the  work  and  getting  things  in  order  as  fast  as  I  can. 
To-night  I  have  spent  several  hours  working  on  my 
reports  to  the  Secretary,  of  which  I  have  three  in  hand 
— all  interesting  and  full  of  information.  I  hope  he  may 
publish  them  in  full,  for  they  show  what  we  have  been 
really  doing. 

"  August  20th. — A  cold,  raw  day,  most  of  it  spent 
over  my  reports  and  looking  after  our  engines.  The 
other  ships  are  coaling  as  fast  as  they  can,  and  in  a 
few  days  we  shall  all  be  cruising  again.  The  summer, 
if  it  can  be  so  called,  is  over  for  us,  and  from  now  on 
it  will  grow  colder  and  more  boisterous.  Berries  and 
mosquitoes  are  now  at  their  best.  The  salmon  berries 
are  only  a  large,  watery  kind  of  raspberry,  but  better 
than  nothing,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  the 
whortleberries — they  are  blue  and  sour  and  full  of  seeds, 
and  taste  like  a  pinch  of  sour  sand.  This  country  pro 
duces  nothing  else  in  the  way  of  fruit,  but  grows  lettuce 
and  radishes  and  very  good  turnips.  I  think  they  could 

347 


A  Sailor's  Log 

grow  a  lot  of  things,  but  the  natives  only  care  for 
seal  meat  and  dried,  half-rotted  fish.  The  few  white 
people  live  on  canned  food  almost  entirely. 

"  Sunday,  August  2ist. — I  have  a  very  bad  foot 
to-day,  but  must  go  on  with  my  work,  sick  or  well. 
The  weather  begins  to  tell  on  the  men  in  the  way  of 
rheumatism,  and  some  are  pretty  bad.  The  ships  have 
been  kept  so  '  on  the  jump  '  that  all  hands  are  get 
ting  tired;  the  duty  is  not  so  easy  as  it  was,  and  the 
engines  have  a  way  of  protesting  that  the  severest  or 
ders  will  not  affect.  The  Adams  got  out  to-day,  and 
I  am  driving  the  Mohican  and  the  Ranger  all  they  will 
stand.  The  Yorktown  will  be  ready  as  soon  as  we  can 
get  to  the  coal  pile,  and  in  the  meantime  we  are  doing 
our  target  work  as  well  as  we  can. 

"  Tuesday,  August  2$d. — A  howling  gale  to-night, 
with  much  cold  rain,  and  no  doubt  the  Adams  and 
Ranger  are  catching  it  in  good  shape.  The  coaling 
facilities  are  so  miserable  here  that  we  can  coal  but 
one  ship  at  a  time,  and  that  very  slowly;  otherwise  the 
little  white  ship  would  be  fighting  the  short  chop-sea 
to-night  instead  of  surging  at  her  chains  as  she  is 
doing.  We  shall  be  off  before  many  days,  and  as 
gales  are  the  rule  now,  I  have  no  doubt  we  shall  be 
sufficiently  amused. 

"  Unalaska,  August  26th. — Here  we  are,  still  in  port 
when  we  should  be  at  sea,  but  I  am  glad  we  are  not, 
for  the  usual  August  gale  has  us  in  its  grip,  and  we 
should  be  very  wet  outside.  We  are  tied  up  to  a  coal 
wharf  in  Dutch  Harbour,  perfectly  landlocked,  and 
yet  the  sea  finds  its  way  in,  and  we  are  jumping  and 
charging,  to  the  great  danger  of  the  wharf.  The  Adams 

348 


Gun  Accidents 

is  dragging  around  the  harbour  in  fine  style,  but  as  she 
has  steam  up  I  do  not  worry  about  her.  In  fact,  I  have 
learned  not  to  worry  about  anything;  but  I  shall  be 
powerful  glad  when  we  are  through  with  Bering  Sea. 
The  Adams  came  in  two  days  ago,  after  picking  up 
her  landing  party  at  the  False  Pass  (where  our  men 
had  been),  and  reports  that  the  natives  refuse  to  shoot 
any  more  sea  otter  for  fear  the  Yorktown  will  come 
back  and  catch  them.  So  we  really  did  some  good  up 
there.  It  is  a  nest  of  pirates,  and  needs  a  firm  hand 
and  a  lot  of  ball  cartridge  before  the  law  will  be  re 
spected. 

"  A  schooner  came  running  in  before  the  gale  yes 
terday,  showing  American  colours,  and  I  was  afraid  we 
had  another  prize  on  our  hands;  but  she  proved  to  be 
a  fisherman  from  the  outside  in  search  of  medical  aid 
for  one  of  her  men,  who  had  accidentally  fired  a  charge 
of  shot  into  his  instep.  The  accident  happened  eight 
days  ago,  and  the  man  is  in  a  deplorable  condition. 
Of  course,  the  foot  had  to  come  off,  and  the  chances 
are  he  will  die.  Day  before  yesterday  our  doctor  was 
called  on  shore  to  attend  a  man  who  had  shot  his  hand 
to  pieces.  He  was  going  to  shoot  a  sheep,  and  found 
the  cartridge  stuck  in  his  Winchester.  As  he  could  not 
force  it  home  he  struck  it  with  a  hammer  to  drive  it  in. 
They  have  not  found  the  hammer  yet,  nor  some  por 
tions  of  his  hand. 

"  The  coaling  arrangements  here  are  causing  us 
much  delay  and  annoyance.  When  the  coal  was  taken 
from  ships  we  did  very  well;  but  now  it  has  all  been 
landed  and  piled  in  the  open,  so  that  it  is  soaking  wet. 
I  stopped  taking  it  in  this  morning,  as  the  rain  was 

349 


A  Sailor's  Log 

coming  down  in  torrents  and  the  coal  bunkers  were 
being  flooded.  I  shall  hold  on  here  until  the  rain  ceases 
before  I  take  any  more.  The  coal  is  of  the  poorest 
kind,  and  absorbs  moisture  like  a  sponge,  so  that  in  its 
present  condition  we  are  paying  for  over  ten  per  cent 
of  water.  Of  course,  this  pleases  the  contractor  to 
death,  and  it  would  serve  the  Equipment  Bureau 
rightly  if  I  went  on  and  paid  for  a  hundred  or  two  tons 
of  water.  But  I  don't  want  the  bother  of  taking  it  in 
and  pumping  it  out. 

"  The  Daphne  is  ordered  to  Esquimault  on  her  way 
home — sails  on  Monday;  the  Melpomene  starts  on  a 
cruise  as  soon  as  this  gale  lets  up,  and  will  go  to  Victoria 
on  September  I4th,  after  which  I  shall  have  to  look 
after  the  whole  business.  There  is  really  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  all  clear  out  now,  for  there  are  no 
sealers  in  Bering  Sea  and  it  is  too  late  for  any  more 
to  come,  and  we  are  spending  two  thousand  dollars  per 
day  for  nothing;  but  our  orders  say  we  must  stay, 
and  stay  it  is.  As  I  have  the  finest  command  in  the 
navy  at  present,  I  ought  to  be  satisfied. 

"  The  wardroom  of  the  Mohican  gave  me  a  dinner 
day  before  yesterday,  which  I  enjoyed  very  much. 
There  is  a  fine  body  of  young  officers  aboard  her.  We 
had  a  good  dinner  for  any  place — soup,  Little  Neck 
clams,  salmon  trout,  and  roast  ptarmigan  are  some  of 
the  things  I  remember.  Everything  except  the  soup 
was  provided  by  the  sportsmen  of  the  mess. 

"August  28th. — I  dined  yesterday  on  board  her 
Majesty's  steamer  Daphne  with  Captain  Wood,  R.  N., 
for  whom  I  have  great  respect  and  esteem,  and  did  not 
get  home  until  midnight.  The  gale  let  up  yesterday, 

350 


Tardy  Approval 

and  to-morrow  I  shall  finish  coaling  and  put  to  sea 
for  a  short  cruise  only,  as  we  must  be  back  here  for  the 
mails  due  after  the  ist  of  September,  and  get  the  Cor- 
win  off  on  the  loth  for  Sitka. 

"  Unalaska,  September  6th. — We  started  to  sea  on 
August  28th,  but  had  only  got  outside  when  we  made 
out  the  mail  steamer  coming  in,  so  we  returned  for 
the  night. 

"  After  we  had  our  mail  we  put  to  sea  again  the 
following  morning,  for  a  cruise  to  the  westward,  and 
by  night  were  driving  into  a  head  sea  that  made  things 
wet  on  board.  We  were  in  a  nasty  southwest  gale, 
with  a  bad,  heavy,  breaking  sea,  and  continued  in  it 
until  we  ran  in  here  last  night,  and  found  the  'Frisco 
mail  steamer  in.  The  Department  wires  me  that  it  ap 
proves  of  my  doings  up  here,  and  also  that  the  State 
Department  commends  me  for  something — I  don't 
make  out  just  what.  This  is  the  first  word  of  approval 
or  disapproval  I  have  had  from  them  since  I  left  New 
York. 

"  September  Jill. — I  did  not  get  over  the  shaking  up 
we  had  in  the  last  ten  days,  until  yesterday,  and  now 
am  pressed  with  official  mail,  added  to  the  strain  of 
constant  work  and  worry,  without  proper  assistants 
to  relieve  me  of  details.  During  the  time  of  this  last 
cruise  I  could  not  once  write  in  my  cabin;  but  we  did 
catch  a  British  sealer  and  brought  him  in  safely,  and 
will  send  him  to  Sitka  by  the  Corwin  as  soon  as  the 
gale  ceases. 

"  On  Friday,  when  we  were  away  off  to  the  west 
ward,  steering  north  in  a  very  heavy  sea,  the  feeling 
suddenly  came  over  me  that  we  must  steer  east,  and 

351 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  impression  was  so  strong  that  I  sent  for  the  navi 
gator  and  told  him  of  it,  and,  said  unless  it  left  me  we 
would  steer  east  at  noon.  He  was  somewhat  doubtful 
of  what  the  sea  would  do  with  us  on  that  course,  but 
we  steered  it  all  the  same.  I  felt  convinced  that  some 
thing  would  come  of  it,  and  the  sequel  is  extraordinary. 
On  Sunday  at  noon  I  was  on  deck,  as  I  usually  am  at 
sea,  when  the  lookout  aloft  reported, '  Sail  ho ! '  and  in  a 
few  minutes  I  made  out  a  schooner,  which  proved  to 
be  the  Henrietta,  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  with 
four  hundred  and  twenty  seal  skins  on  board.  I  had 
not  changed  the  course  at  all,  and  yet  we  ran  right 
up  to  her.  It  was  curious.  When  we  got  near  enough 
to  throw  a  line  on  board  the  schooner,  the  sea  was  so 
nasty  that  her  captain  evidently  thought  we  would 
not  dare  to  lower  a  boat  to  send  men  on  board  of 
her,  so  he  refused  to  make  the  line  fast.  We  diti 
lower  the  boat,  however,  much  to  his  surprise,  and  in 
fifteen  minutes  an  officer  and  six  armed  men  had  pos 
session  of  his  vessel,  and  his  crew  and  all  their  arms 
were  on  board  the  Yorktown.  The  way  the  work  was 
done  and  the  boat  handled  was  most  gratifying  to 
me — never  saw  anything  better  done.  For  some  min 
utes  my  heart  was  in  my  throat  for  fear  the  boat  would 
swamp;  but  she  did  her  work,  came  back,  and  was 
hoisted  without  a  scratch  on  her  paint.  Every  man  in 
the  ship  had  his  wits  about  him,  and  did  what  was 
ordered  promptly  and  efficiently. 

"  Sunday  night  we  kept  the  schooner  in  company, 
and  on  Monday,  the  sea  having  run  down  somewhat, 
we  took  her  in  tow  and  brought  her  here.  She  will 
be  condemned  and  sold  in  Alaska  for  violating  our 

352 


Concealed   Rocks 

revenue  laws,  and  the  Canadians  will  note  another 
'  outrage  '  on  their  commerce. 

"  Upon  our  arrival  I  found  the  Oscar  and  Hattie, 
British  schooner  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  had 
been  captured  by  the  Mohican  out  at  Attu  Island,  and 
sent  in  with  a  prize  crew  to  report  to  me.  She  will 
come  under  the  modus  vivendi,  and  as  soon  as  Captain 
Parr  comes  in  with  the  Melpomene  I  shall  turn  her 
over  to  his  tender  mercies.  We  are  really  making  it 
hot  for  the  Canadian  sealing  fraternity.  The  gale  in 
which  we  had  been  cruising  calmed  down  somewhat 
on  Monday,  but  yesterday  the  barometer  began  fall 
ing  rapidly;  last  night  a  fearful  southeast  storm  broke 
out  on  us,  and  to-day  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  a 
boat  on  shore.  Of  course,  sealing  is  done  for  this  year, 
as  the  weather  from  now  on  will  probably  be  such  that 
no  seal  can  be  taken;  but  we  shall  keep  things  on  the 
jump  until  we  start  for  home,  and  shall  catch  any  ves 
sel  that  breaks  the  law.  It  is  the  general  opinion 
hereabouts  that  we  have  captured  every  vessel  that  has 
come  into  the  sea. 

"  Friday,  September  $th. — I  was  occupied  every 
minute  yesterday,  until  midnight.  I  was  starting  the 
Corwin  home,  via  Sitka,  with  the  Henrietta  in  tow,  as 
soon  as  my  despatches  could  be  completed,  only  wait 
ing  for  the  gale  to  let  up.  At  six  I  had  finished,  and 
went  to  dine  with  Captain  Hooper  before  he  sailed. 
Just  as  dinner  was  over  a  vessel  was  reported  coming 
in,  and  at  9.30  the  Mohican  anchored,  and  Johnson  and 
I  talked  until  midnight.  He  had  struck  another  rock, 
out  at  Attu  this  time.  His  ship  was  not  injured,  still 
he  was  worried  over  it.  All  things  considered,  the 

353 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Department  has  been  lucky  not  to  lose  a  ship  this 
summer.  We  have  cruised  straight  through,  night 
and  day,  fog  or  clear,  without  decent  charts,  and  not 
a  single  buoy  or  light  in  the  entire  country. 

"  The  Corwin  left  at  four  this  morning.  I  was 
sorry  to  see  her  go,  for  it  is  the  first  break  in  the  fleet 
I  have  commanded,  and  I  may  never  have  such  a  com 
mand  again.  She  takes  a  long  report  to  the  Secretary, 
which  I  should  be  glad  to  have  him  publish,  and  one 
to  the  State  Department,  which  contains  more  infor 
mation  on  seals  and  the  Seal  Islands  than  has  ever  been 
given  in  one  report.  I  have  been  working  all  summer 
for  three  Departments — Navy,  State,  and  Treasury — 
and  I  have  had  to  make  reports  to  each  of  them,  which 
has  vastly  increased  my  labours;  but  I  am  thankful 
to  say  it  is  all  now  rapidly  coming  to  an  end,  and  in 
twenty  days  more  we  shall  be  ready  to  sail  for  home. 

"Monday  Night,  September  I2th. — We  have  im 
proved  the  time  to-day  by  having  target  practice;  but 
the  water  was  smooth,  and  the  targets  had  no  show 
against  our  six-inch  guns,  two  of  them  being  shot  to 
pieces  and  finally  utterly  destroyed.  The  practice  was 
excellent.  To-night  at  eight,  dark  as  a  pocket  and 
raining,  I  suddenly  raised  the  alarm,  '  Torpedo  boats! ' 
and  turned  the  search  lights  on  a  target,  which  I  had 
previously  placed,  and  in  two  minutes  we  had  fired  six 
teen  hundred  and  ninety  shots  from  small  arms  and 
machine  guns,  and  the  target  was  a  sieve.  We  must 
have  presented  a  beautiful  sight  from  the  outside,  for 
we  were  a  blaze  of  fire,  fore  and  aft.  If  it  had  been  a 
real  torpedo  boat  coming  at  us,  the  man  in  command 
would  have  required  a  large  head  not  to  flinch,  and  a 

354 


How  the  Russians  did  it 

very  small  one  not  to  have  it  shot  off.  There  is  not  a 
place  on  the  target  as  large  as  a  man's  hand  unmarked 
by  shot. 

"  To-morrow,  weather  permitting,  we  shall  go  out 
side  and  have  a  try  at  a  target,  running  past  it  at  high 
speed. 

"  September  ijth. — The  Melpomene  has  come  in 
and  is  dumping  in  the  coal  as  fast  as  she  can,  and  hopes 
to  get  off  for  Esquimault  day  after  to-morrow.  Cap 
tain  Parr  will  dine  with  me  to-morrow,  when  he  surely 
won't  have  much  to  eat  and  less  to  drink,  as  I  am 
almost  entirely  out  of  all  sorts  of  provisions. 

"  During  his  cruise  he  has  been  over  to  the  Rus 
sian  coast  and  back  through  Bering  Sea  and  saw  not 
a  single  sealer.  The  Russians  have  captured  six 
schooners — one  American  and  five  Canadian — all  of 
which  have  been  condemned  and  burned.  They  have 
a  good  way  of  treating  such  chaps  over  there:  the 
skins  were  taken  out  and  sent  to  San  Francisco  to  be 
sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Russian  Government,  and 
the  prisoners  released,  to  find  their  way  home  as  best 
they  could.  Next  year  the  Russians  mean  to  have 
more  cruisers  and  really  put  a  stop  to  sealing  on  that 
side,  and  then  the  whole  gang  will  go  for  Bering  Sea, 
and  our  commander  commanding  may  have  a  real  lively 
time  of  it.  It  may  be  that  by  that  time  the  Depart 
ment  will  awake  to  the  fact  that  this  is  the  command 
for  an  admiral  or  a  commodore,  at  least,  and  send  one 
up  here. 

"  In  a  recent  letter  from  Admiral  Hotham,  he  says 
that  the  Coquitlan  episode  amused  him  very  much. 
First,  the  Canadians  wanted  war — demanded  that  he 

355 


A  Sailor's  Log 

should  go  to  Sitka  with  the  Warspite  and  tow  the 
Coquitlan  back  to  Victoria.  When  he  would  not  do 
this,  they  accused  him  of  having  given  me  their  place 
of  rendezvous;  but  about  this  time,  he  says,  the  small 
pox  came  along  and  the  Canadians  were  so  scared  that 
he  heard  no  more  about  war. 

"  Now,  the  smallpox  having  let  up,  they  are  after 
him  again.  They  certainly  are  a  miserable  lot,  and  the 
admiral  says  they  surely  love  me.  When  they  hear 
of  the  Henrietta  going  to  Sitka  they  will  probably 
wish  to  embrace  me.  The  admiral  has  been  on  the 
rocks  with  his  flagship,  which  worries  him,  but  he  was 
in  no  way  to  blame  for  it — nor  was  any  one  else,  except 
the  people  who  made  the  charts  and  neglected  to  put 
the  rocks  on  them. 

"  If  I  get  my  ship  to  'Frisco  without  more  damage 
I  shall  consider  myself  lucky.  I  do  not  expect  to  be  de 
tained  here  after  the  ist  of  October,  unless  I  hear  of 
sealers  being  about,  in  which  case  I  shall  stay  until  I 
catch  them,  if  I  freeze  for  it;  but  I  don't  think  they 
want  to  monkey  with  the  Yorktown. 

"  Unalaska,  September  i6th. — The  Melpomene  left 
yesterday  morning,  the  Mohican  goes  to-morrow,  and 
the  Elsie,  a  small  mail  steamer,  the  day  after;  but  I 
hope  to  be  in  'Frisco  before  either  of  them. 

"  My  dinner  to  Captain  Parr  and  the  Canadian 
commissioners  went  off  well.  We  had  salmon,  ptar 
migan,  and  wild  ducks  among  other  things.  Parr 
wrote  me  a  letter  before  he  left,  which  is  a  model  of 
official  sweetness,  and  in  reply  I  applied  sugar  most 
artistically.  And  so  Bering  Sea  has  been  freed  of  seal 
poachers,  for  one  year  anyhow,  and  no  war  has  come 

356 


A  Hurricane 

of  it.  The  summer  has  been  one  of  hard  work  and 
much  anxiety  to  me,  and  I  hope  to  have  some  rest 
after  it. 

"  September  22d. — Since  I  last  wrote  I  have  been 
'  down  to  the  sea  in  a  ship/  and,  like  all  men  who  do 
that  in  a  small  ship,  I  have  paid  for  it.  On  the  I7th  we 
put  out  in  the  beginning  of  a  gale,  as  it  proved,  and 
when  we  came  in  this  evening  and  dropped  anchor  I 
could  for  the  first  time  sit  down  to  write.  When  we 
left  the  harbour  we  found  a  fearful  sea  running,  and 
it  grew  steadily  worse  until  we  came  in  to-day,  when  it 
blew  with  hurricane  force;  but  through  it  all  the  little 
white  ship  grows  better  and  better,  and  I  am  proud 
of  her,  in  spite  of  the  bad  name  she  had  when  I  took 
command  of  her.  On  this  last  cruise  we  ran  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  west  of  the  Seal  Islands, 
toward  the  Russian  coast,  when  the  sea  was  so  tre 
mendous  that  we  were  compelled  to  lay  to  for  twelve 
hours,  and  as  soon  as  we  could  we  cruised  off  and  on, 
looking  for  schooners,  but  none  came  in  sight. 

"  Day  before  yesterday,  still  blowing  a  gale,  we 
started  back  this  way,  intending  to  stop  at  the  islands, 
but  when  we  came  near  them  the  sea  was  breaking  so 
viciously  that  we  came  on,  and  to-day  saw  the  worst 
weather  we  have  had  since  leaving  New  York.  When 
we  were  about  fifteen  miles  from  Unalaska  the  wind 
attained  hurricane  force,  blowing  directly  from  the 
volcano  of  Makuslin,  and  we  had  a  picnic.  We  were 
steaming  twelve  knots  at  the  time,  and  tried  to  show 
some  little  canvas  to  steady  the  ship;  but  a  piece  as 
large  as  a  tablecloth  went  like  smoke,  and  we  had  to 
depend  on  the  steam.  The  water  was  picked  up  in 
*4  357 


A  Sailor's  Log 

patches  of  twenty  acres  and  carried  off  in  spray  two 
or  three  hundred  feet,  and  the  force  of  the  wind  was 
so  great  that  the  surface  of  the  sea  was  cut  down  as 
level  as  a  floor,  and  foaming  white;  but  we  made  it 
somehow,  and  here  we  are  safely  at  anchor,  and  the 
Bering  Sea  work  is  done,  for  this  season  at  least. 

"  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  Bering  Sea  is  the  worst 
patch  of  water  it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  tackle,  and 
I  sincerely  hope  I  may  never  have  it  to  do  again.  I 
find  the  Bear  is  in  from  the  Arctic,  and  as  she  is  to 
remain  until  December  1st,  we  are  to  give  passage  to 
the  wife  of  Captain  Healey  and  one  other  person.  I 
shall  give  up  my  cabin  to  them,  while  I  live  as  best  I 
can.  From  now  until  the  ist  of  October  I  shall  be 
hard  at  work  getting  ready  for  our  trip  down,  and 
when  once  we  start  I  shall  make  things  '  hum  '  if  I  can. 
I  hope  to  sleep  to-night  for  the  first  time  in  many 
nights. 

"  Thursday  Night. — I  have  had  a  busy  day  of  it,  and 
wound  up  with  dinner  on  board  the  Bear,  and  a  very 
good  dinner  it  was.  Captain  and  Mrs.  Healey,  Cap 
tains  Nelson  and  Nicols,  Mr.  Ware  and  son,  who,  with 
Mrs.  Healey,  are  to  be  my  guests  to  'Frisco,  composed 
the  party.  Ware  and  his  son  have  this  summer  landed 
a  mining  party  on  the  Yukon  River,  and  are  on  their 
way  home  to  Chicago.  The  Adams  gets  off  to-mor 
row,  and  I  shall  not  see  her  again,  and  in  a  week  my 
command  in  Bering  Sea  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 
The  summer  seems  short  to  look  back  at,  but  how  the 
days  drag  now  as  the  end  approaches!  If  we  get  to 
'Frisco,  as  I  hope,  on  October  8th,  we  shall  have 
steamed  a  little  over  twenty-eight  thousand  miles  in 

353 


Natural  History 

one  year.  Certainly  no  one  can  say  I  have  not  been 
to  sea  sure  enough. 

"  Friday  Night. — One  week  more  of  Bering  Sea  and 
I  am  done  with  it  for  all  time,  I  hope.  It  is  perhaps 
this  thought  that  makes  these  volcanic  humps  look 
very  beautiful  just  now  in  the  magnificence  of  their 
early  winter  coloring.  This  morning  the  mountains 
were  clearly  outlined  against  a  cold  steel-blue  sky,  the 
line  of  new-fallen  snow,  sharp  and  distinct,  about  one 
third  of  the  way  down  the  peaks,  and  the  rest  golden- 
red  and  green-brown,  with  here  and  there  in  the  val 
leys,  sheltered  from  the  cold  winds,  a  bright  emerald^ 
green  spot.  The  Adams  got  away  on  time  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  one  hour  after  the  Rush  came  in,  bringing 
the  first  of  a  southeast  gale  with  her.  Later  on  it  came 
harder,  and  now  it  is  nasty  and  cold  enough  to  suit  even 
the  bears. 

"  Captain  Coulson  reports  dreadful  weather  during 
the  last  ten  days — just  such,  in  fact,  as  I  have  had  dur 
ing  our  cruising.  He  is  an  old  hand  up  here,  and  says 
he  never  knew  it  so  bad  before  so  early  in  the  season, 
September  usually  being  a  fairly  good  month.  No 
sealers  have  been  seen,  and  only  a  few  seals  away  from 
the  islands,  where  the  old  ones  are  now  busily  engaged 
teaching  the  youngsters  to  swim  and  get  ready  for  their 
long  sea  trip.  It  is  a  curious  thing  in  Nature  that 
these  animals,  which  may  be  said  to  live  entirely  in  the 
water,  can  neither  beget  nor  bear  their  young  except 
on  land,  and  that  the  young  one  would  instantly  drown 
if  put  in  the  water  within  several  weeks  after  its  birth. 
A  young  seal  is  much  more  helpless  in  the  water  than 
a  young  kitten.  But  this  is  not  more  strange  than  that 

359 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  mosquito,  which  is  so  plainly  meant  to  live  by  suck 
ing  blood  through  its  bill  from  a  thin-skinned,  hairless 
animal,  is  most  abundant  in  the  swamps  of  the  tropics 
and  the  frozen  regions  of  the  Arctic,  where  no  such 
animals  can  exist;  nor  why  the  leech,  which  lives  by 
sucking  warm  blood,  is  found  only  in  swamps  where 
Nature  forbids  warm-blooded  life. 

"  Saturday  Night. — Finding  this  morning  not  too 
bad,  we  got  under  way  and  went  outside  for  some 
great-gun  target  practice,  of  which  we  have  not  had 
time  to  do  as  much  as  I  should  have  liked  this  summer. 
We  found  a  moderate  sea  with  squalls  of  rain  and  much 
wind.  The  target  was  soon  placed,  and  running  the 
ship  by  it  at  full  speed,  the  six-inch  guns  opened  in  a 
way  much  to  my  satisfaction.  Every  shot  was  excellent 
until  the  eighth,  which  demolished  the  target  and  put 
an  end  to  the  practice. 

"  I  have  just  now  finished  my  table  of  distances 
made  by  the  fleet  under  my  command.  The  distance 
covered  by  all  ships  since  leaving  Port  Townsend  is 
sixty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles, 
of  which  thirty-eight  thousand  three  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  miles  have  been  in  Bering  Sea.  Nothing 
approaching  this  work  has  been  done  since  the  civil 
war  closed,  and  I  hope  the  Department  may  be  as  well 
pleased  with  it  as  I  am. 

"  September  joth. — To-night  is  the  end  of  this, 
unless  the  gale  now  blowing  is  too  much  for  us  to 
morrow  morning.  Bering  Sea  has  been  policed  in 
proper  shape,  according  to  my  thinking;  the  job  is 
finished,  and  to-morrow  we  are  homeward  bound.  A 
happy  lot  we  surely  are.  There  is  not  a  drop  of  any- 


Return  to  San  Francisco 

thing  to  drink  on  board,  not  even  a  bottle  of  beer,  so 
we  are  all  very  quiet  and  subdued  in  our  happiness, 
and  only  hoping  for  a  decent  day  to  get  well  clear  of 
these  miserable  islands.  Yesterday  daylight  found  us 
smothered  in  snow  and  hail,  and  since  then  it  has 
snowed  in  real  arctic  style.  Indeed,  I  never  saw  a 
snowstorm  before — had  no  idea  what  one  was  like.  I 
know  now,  and  really  don't  care  for  any  further  knowl 
edge  on  the  subject.  I  know  that  I  shall  have  to  spend 
much  of  the  next  week  on  the  bridge,  but  I  don't  care 
so  long  as  we  can  make  any  way  toward  'Frisco. 

"  October  loth,  'Frisco. — Just  in,  after  awful  trip 
down  with  gales  and  hurricanes  all  the  way  from  Una- 
laska — the  worst  I  have  ever  known.  We  were  abso 
lutely  under  water  for  five  days,  and  I  lived  in  wet 
clothing.  Finally  came  a  hurricane  in  which  we  were 
hove  to  for  twenty  hours." 

I  have  made  these  extracts  from  my  journal  at 
length,  since  they  give  a  much  better  idea  of  my  life 
and  doings  in  Bering  Sea  than  I  could  possibly  write 
now. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

IN   COMMAND   OP   THE   NEW   YORK 

THE  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  the  President  gave 
hearty  approval  for  my  successful  work,  and  the  Presi 
dent  was  good  enough  to  mention  me  by  name  in  his 
message  to  Congress.  Few  officers  have  had  this 
honour  in  time  of  peace; 

It  had  seemed  to  me  from  the  time  I  first  began  to 
study  the  seal  question  that  the  easiest  solution  was 
for  the  United  States  to  declare  the  seals  a  herd  of 
domesticated  wild  animals  owned  by  us  and  breeding 
on  our  territory  alone,  and  after  this  declaration  to 
state  our  intention  to  follow  and  protect  them,  no 
matter  where  they  went.  This  would,  at  least,  have 
brought  the  question  to  an  issue,  and  a  settlement 
would  have  had  to  follow  very  shortly.  The  theory  of 
a  closed  sea  did  not  appear  to  me  consistent  with  our 
action  in  reference  to  the  fisheries  on  the  Eastern  coast, 
where  we  denied  to  England  the  same  contention. 

A  few  weeks  after  my  return  from  the  Arctic  I  was 
detached  from  the  Yorktown  at  San  Francisco  and 
ordered  as  naval  secretary  of  the  Lighthouse  Board. 
When  I  reached  Washington  I  found  that  the  zealous 
watchdogs  of  the  Treasury  had  checked  against  my 
pay  the  sum  of  three  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents,  be- 

362 


The  Lighthouse  Board 

cause  I  had  taken  five  days  to  reach  my  home  instead 
of  four.  The  checkage  was  the  difference  between  duty 
and  leave  pay  for  one  day.  I  had  turned  into  the 
Treasury  something  over  six  hundred  thousand  dollars 
during  the  summer,  and  felt  that  this  last  contribution 
might  have  been  spared  me. 

When  the  seal  question  again  came  up  for  consid 
eration  the  conference  was  composed  of  very  distin 
guished  men — Secretaries  Gresham  and  Carlisle  on  our 
side  and  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote  and  Sir  Charles  Tupper 
representing  the  Canadian  side.  I  was  requested  to  be 
present,  and  was  very  glad  afterward  to  know  that  my 
practical  knowledge  of  the  subject  had  been  of  value 
in  arranging  the  rules  governing  the  taking  of  seals 
under  the  Paris  award. 

My  second  tour  of  duty  as  naval  secretary  of  the 
Lighthouse  Board  was  made  more  pleasant  by  the  oc 
casional  trips  of  President  Cleveland  and  members  of 
his  Cabinet,  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  lighthouse 
steamers  which  could  be  conveniently  used  for  the  pur 
pose.  I  was  usually  with  the  President  when  health  or 
recreation  made  such  trips  desirable,  and  took  charge 
of  all  preparations  and  supplies.  They  were  never 
allowed  to  interfere  in  the  least  with  Government  work, 
nor  did  they  involve  the  expenditure  of  one  cent  of 
public  money.  They  did,  however,  enable  both  him 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  is  President 
of  the  Lighthouse  Board,  to  see  the  practical  working 
of  the  service  by  contact  with  the  keepers  and  inspec 
tion  of  the  stations,  and  in  this  way  were  of  great 
benefit.  Many  desirable  changes  can  be  traced  to  these 
outings,  and  it  can  be  safely  asserted  that  no  more 

363 


A  Sailor's  Log 

innocent  or  enjoyable  form  of  recreation  could  have 
been  devised. 

During  the  summer  of  1894  the  fine,  new,  armoured 
cruiser  New  York  was  in  need  of  a  captain,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  did  me  the  honour  to  give  me 
the  command.  I  had  been  promoted  to  the  grade  of 
captain  after  my  return  from  the  Yorktown,  and  was 
one  of  the  juniors  on  the  list;  hence  the  compliment 
was  all  the  more  marked.  I  was  at  Gray  Gables  mak 
ing  a  visit  to  Mr.  Cleveland  when  the  time  came  for  me 
to  report,  and  he  was  good  enough  to  take  me  down 
to  New  York  with  him  and  put  me  on  board. 

The  NeW  York  was  our  only  armoured  cruiser,  and 
at  that  time  the  flagship  of  Admiral  Richard  W.  Meade, 
commanding  the  North  Atlantic  squadron.  A  few 
days  after  I  had  relieved  Captain  "  Jack  "  Philip,  the 
Department  gave  me  additional  orders  as  chief  of  staff 
to  the  admiral,  in  which  capacity  I  served  until  he  was 
relieved  at  his  own  request  and  placed  on  the  retired 
list. 

Admiral  Meade  was  an  able,  courageous  officer, 
and  during  our  winter's  cruise  with  the  squadron,  con 
sisting  of  the  New  York  (flagship),  Columbia,  Min 
neapolis,  Cincinnati,  and  Raleigh,  gave  us  admirable 
and  sytematic  drill.  Modern  methods  and  appliances 
were  used  in  a  modern  way — torpedoes  were  run  under 
service  conditions,  and  search  lights  used  to  their  ut 
most  capacity  as  a  means  of  communicating  between 
vessels  at  sea  at  long  distances  from  each  other.  The 
tone  of  the  squadron  was  excellent,  owing  in  a  large 
measure  to  the  personal  character  and  bearing  of  the 
admiral.  The  war  between  Cuba  and  Spain,  or,  more 

364 


Fire  at  Port-of-Spain 

properly  speaking,  the  revolution  in  Cuba,  was  in  its 
infancy,  and  the  admiral  was  outspoken  in  his  friend 
ship  for  the  Cubans — so  much  so  that  the  Department 
would  not  allow  him  to  enter  a  Cuban  port  for  fear 
that  his  violent  temper  might  involve  us  in  trouble. 
This  was  a  source  of  much  concern  to  him,  and  was 
the  beginning  of  the  trouble  that  resulted  seriously 
to  him  later  on.  Upon  our  arrival  at  New  York,  early 
in  May,  I  was  directed  to  fit  out  for  a  short  cruise  to 
Europe  to  join  in  the  ceremonies  attending  the  opening 
of  the  Kiel  Canal. 

Probably  the  most  important  work  of  Admiral 
Meade's  squadron  during  the  West  India  cruise  was 
saving  the  city  of  Port-of-Spain  in  Trinidad.  While  we 
were  anchored  there  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  city,  which, 
owing  to  the  strong  trade  wind  blowing,  soon  made 
great  headway,  and  would  have  destroyed  the  entire 
place  had  it  not  been  for  the  work  done  by  our  men. 
The  squadron  was  anchored  five  or  six  miles  from  the 
shore,  and  as  the  admiral  refused  to  land  men  until 
officially  asked  to  do  so,  much  property  was  lost  that 
otherwise  might  have  been  saved.  When,  however,  the 
request  for  assistance  came,  everything  was  ready,  and 
the  fire  brigades  of  the  vessels  were  sent  in  at  once  under 
command  of  the  executive  officer  of  the  New  York. 
After  four  hours'  very  hard  and  dangerous  work  the  city 
was  saved,  and  the  men  returned  on  board.  I  was  sure 
from  the  first  that  the  fire  was  of  incendiary  origin,  and 
felt  that  a  company  of  marines  with  plenty  of  car 
tridges  would  be  needed  before  the  job  was  finished; 
but  the  admiral  hesitated  to  land  armed  men  in  a  for 
eign  state.  After  some  discussion  he  told  me  that  I 

365 


A  Sailor's  Log 

might  do  as  I  pleased,  but  advised  me  not  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  doing  as  I  proposed.  Without  more 
delay  I  sent  in  forty  men  with  two  officers  and  plenty 
of  ammunition.  The  moment  they  landed  they  were 
deployed  through  the  threatened  district,  and  soon 
put  an  end  to  the  looting  that  was  going  on.  Our  men 
came  back  at  midnight  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  things 
that  had  been  given  them  by  the  people  on  shore, 
among  others  twenty  young  goats,  which  I  promptly 
sent  back  in  the  morning.  The  Governor  wrote  a 
handsome  letter  of  thanks,  commending  the  excellent 
conduct  of  our  men  under  most  trying  circumstances. 
He  was  particularly  grateful  for  the  marines,  whose 
bayonets  proved  just  the  thing  required. 

The  work  of  preparing  for  the  Kiel  cruise  was 
rapidly  done,  and  by  May  i8th  I  was  ready  for  sea. 
Arrangements  had  been  made  for  electrically  illuminat 
ing  the  ship,  and  as  she  was  the  first  of  our  new  ves 
sels  to  be  shown  abroad,  and  the  occasion  a  notable 
one,  it  was  decided  to  give  as  fine  a  display  of  fireworks 
as  possible^  I  sent  for  the  expert  who  attends  to  such 
matters  in  and  about  New  York,  and  with  him  ar 
ranged  the  scheme  that  afterward  astonished  Kiel  and 
the  ships  there  assembled.  When  the  various  set 
pieces  and  the  supply  of  bombs  and  rockets  began  to 
arrive  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do  with  them. 
After  we  had  filled  every  available  space  below,  there 
still  remained  a  lot  to  be  looked  after.  I  had  the  boxes, 
which  were  very  large,  securely  lashed  on  deck,  covered 
with  canvas,  and  painted.  They  were  a  source  of  great 
uneasiness  to  me  until  they  were  finally  burned.  If  they 
got  wet,  of  course  they  would  not  go  off  when  the 

366 


Off  for  Kiel 

time  came,  and  if  some  careless  man  dropped  a  spark 
from  his  pipe  on  them  they  would  go  off  much  too 
soon.  Fortunately,  I  had  no  accident  with  them,  and 
was  well  pleased  when  I  saw  the  last  of  them. 

The  U.  S.  S.  Columbia  was  also  fitting  out  for 
Kiel,  and  was  expected  to  beat  us  badly  in  the  race 
across.  My  journal  has  the  following: 

"  May  22,  i#p5,  at  Sea,  off  the  Banks.  —  We  got 
away  on  the  stroke  of  twelve  on  Saturday  in  a  most 
successful  way,  and  apparently  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  the  navy-yard  officials,  who  waved  cordially  to  me  as 
we  straightened  down  the  river.  The  mud  bank  tried 
to  stop  us,  but  I  had  said  we  would  go  at  noon,  and 
so  we  went.  That  is  about  the  easiest  way  to  manage: 
say  you  are  going  to  do  a  thing,  and  then  simply  go 
ahead  and  do  it.  The  ship  behaved  most  beautifully, 
and  the  evolution  was  perfectly  performed.  Even  the 
chaplain,  dear  soul!  came  and  congratulated  me,  and 
said  I  must  have  a  wonderful  eye  for  distances,  and 
no  end  of  nerve. 

"  We  came  over  the  bar  just  behind  the  Lucania, 
and  the  way  she  ran  us  out  of  sight  was  amusing.  If 
we  had  been  using  full  power  of  steam  we  should 
probably  be  in  sight  of  her  now,  but  we  had  only 
three  boilers,  and  were  making  but  twelve  knots  and 
a  half. 

"  Ice  was  reported  well  south  of  the  Banks  before 
we  left  New  York,  and  not  wishing  any  of  that  in 
mine,  we  came  out  on  a  course  to  keep  us  south  of 
40°;  but  the  third  day  out,  Monday,  the  temperature 
of  the  water  suddenly  fell  24°  and  the  air  5°,  so  I  knew 
who  our  neighbour  was,  and  kept  a  bright  lookout  for 

367 


A  Sailor's  Log 

icebergs.  After  an  hour  of  most  anxious  watching 
the  temperature  again  went  up  and  all  danger  was 
past.  Up  to  yesterday  afternoon  the  weather  was 
blowing,  with  rain  and  fog,  but  to-day  is  clear  and 
beautiful  and  warm.  To-night  we  shall  be  halfway 
over,  and  I  shall  treat  the  ship  to  another  boiler,  which 
should  give  us  fifteen  knots.  I  don't  want  the  Colum 
bia  to  catch  us,  and  I  do  want  to  get  in,  take  my  coal 
and  be  cleaned  up,  when  Admiral  Kirkland  puts  in,  in 
the  San  Francisco. 

"  Everything  is  quiet  and  lovely  in  the  ship,  but 
this  morning,  about  four  o'clock,  I  was  nearly  thrown 
out  of  my  bed,  by  the  engines  reversing  at  full  speed, 
and  no  end  of  a  row  lowering  the  lifeboat.  A  new 
landsman  we  had  recently  acquired  had  pulled  the  knob 
of  the  life  buoy,  just  to  see  what  would  happen.  He 
won't  be  so  curious  again,  I  think. 

"  May  2$d. — After  I  wrote  yesterday  we  came 
pretty  near  finding  the  ice  again.  The  temperature  of 
the  water  fell  suddenly  from  65°  to  49°,  and  the  air  was 
bitter.  I  found  on  examining  the  last  pilot  chart  that 
we  were  almost  in  the  exact  spot  where  a  berg  four 
hundred  feet  high  had  been  seen  less  than  a  week  ago. 
After  half  an  hour  we  ran  out  of  the  cold  into  beautiful, 
clear,  warm  weather,  which  has  continued  ever  since. 

"  Our  extra  boiler  is  helping,  and  we  have  been 
making  over  fifteen  knots  since  eight  last  night.  We 
shall  be  halfway  across  some  time  to-night,  and  the  Co 
lumbia  will  have  to  '  hump  herself  '  to  sight  us  before 
we  anchor.  The  doctor  tells  me  to-day  that,  after  care 
fully  measuring  the  quantity  of  air  pumped  into  the 
New  York  per  hour,  he  finds  that  she  is  better  ven- 

368 


In  the  Channel 

tilated  out  here  on  the  sea  than  most  of  the  large  build 
ings  in  New  York.  Careful  analysis  shows  that  the 
quality  of  the  air  in  the  ship  is  as  fine  as  the  quantity  is 
abundant. 

"  May  2?th,  Two  Hundred  Miles  West  of  Land's 
End. — We  are  drawing  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  Chan 
nel.  We  have  made  a  lovely  run — probably  the  quick 
est  ever  made  by  a  man-of-war.  The  weather  has  been 
fairly  good — a  long  swell  from  the  northwest,  which 
has  cut  our  speed  down  somewhat,  and  a  strong,  steady 
southwest  wind  all  the  way.  To-day  is  clear,  and,  if  it 
continues  so,  we  shall  make  the  Bishop's  Rock  Light 
without  trouble  and  be  anchored  off  Netley  Abbey  to 
morrow  evening.  We  left  New  York  in  company  with 
a  large  four-masted  steamer,  and  for  two  days  had  her 
in  sight  all  the  time.  Then  she  steered  more  to  the 
north  and  we  lost  her.  This  morning  at  daylight  she 
was  in  sight  on  our  port  beam,  and  it  looks  now  as  if 
we  should  run  up  the  Channel  side  by  side. 

"  Off  Netley,  Southampton,  May  2$th. — I  stopped 
writing  off  the  Scilly  Islands,  and  yesterday  afternoon 
the  blessed  fog  caught  us  about  two  hundred  miles  off 
Land's  End,  but  fortunately  cleared  as  we  came  by 
Bishop's  Rock,  and  so  I  entered  the  Channel  knowing 
our  position  accurately.  After  passing  Eddystone  it 
shut  in  as  thick  as  pea  soup  and  I  saw  nothing  up  to 
Portland,  when  it  cleared,  and  we  ran  for  the  entrance 
to  the  Solent,  which  we  made  night  before  last  at  ten, 
but  no  pilot  could  we  get,  so  we  had  to  anchor  until 
six  yesterday  morning,  thus  losing  valuable  time.  The 
run  up  past  the  Isle  of  Wight  was  exceedingly  beauti 
ful,  as  was  the  view  of  Cowes  Roads;  but  the  ship  took 

36$ 


A  Sailor's  Log 

most  of  my  time  and  attention,  and  I  could  only  glance 
at  things  as  we  ran  by  them. 

"  We  found  the  San  Francisco,  Marblehead,  and 
Alliance  here,  but  not  the  Columbia.  Admiral  Kirk- 
land  will  not  take  the  squadron  to  Kiel,  but  orders  us 
to  meet  him  at  Copenhagen  June  I2th,  and  from  there 
we  will  go  to  Kiel  for  the  show.  After  that  is  over, 
we  are  to  be  cut  loose,  as  it  were,  to  go  where  we  please, 
and  find  our  way  back  to  New  York  when  ordered. 

"  The  Columbia  came  in  last  night  at  9.30,  having 
burned  fourteen  hundred  tons  of  coal  on  the  way  over, 
as  against  eight  hundred  for  us.  We  ran  at  half  power, 
she  at  two  thirds,  so  the  New  York  is  not  a  very 
slow  ship. 

"  The  admiral  is  to  leave  on  the  5th,  and  we  shall 
follow  on  the  ninth;  so  we  must  hurry  up  the  coaling 
that  we  may  get  cleaned  up  and  ready.  Yesterday 
afternoon  I ' struck  the  beach'  and  had  a  delightful  hour 
in  the  ruins  of  Netley  Abbey,  certainly  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  spots  I  have  ever  seen.  The  lights  and  shad 
ows  were  exquisite,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  the  songs 
of  birds.  Afterward  I  dined  at  the  club  for  the  sum 
of  five  shillings.  I  had  soup,  grilled  mackerel,  devilled 
kidney,  three  vegetables,  cold  roast  beef  and  salad, 
cherry  tart,  cheese,  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  a  pint  of  good 
red  wine.  No  club  in  the  United  States  can  do  any 
thing  like  it  for  the  money. 

"  Two  Italian  ships  have  come  in  to-day  and  more 
are  expected  to-morrow.  I  hear  they  are  sending  a 
fleet  of  ten  vessels. 

"  May  30th. — Our  flag  was  at  half-mast  yesterday, 
and  the  same  to-day,  for  poor  Mr.  Gresham. 

3/0 


A  Nigger  Prince 

"Off  Netley,  June  5,  1895. — I  came  back  from 
London  last  night  at  midnight,  after  a  most  delightful 
visit.  Met  many  friends  there  who  gave  me  dinners, 
luncheons,  drives,  and  made  as  much  fuss  over  me  as  if 
I  were  named  Mahan.  Sunday  we  went  into  the  park 
to  see  '  Church  Parade/  and  surely  it  was  a  sight.  The 
Duke  of  Cambridge  was  walking  slowly  through  the 
park  and  eying  the  dresses  with  apparent  interest. 
After  the  park  we  drove  to  the  zoo,  where  the  Afghan 
istan  prince  was  having  an  outing.  All  the  royal  car 
riages  were  out,  and  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales 
were  showing  him  about.  They  call  him  a  '  nigger/ 
and  at  the  same  time  bow  down  to  him  and  make  much 
of  him,  for  fear  of  what  he  may  do  in  the  East.  Funny 
people!  The  nigger  prince  at  a  dinner  party  last  week 
refused  to  enter  the  drawing-room  because  of  the  low 
dresses  of  the  ladies,  saying  it  was  not  decent.  When 
he  had  to  take  out  the  lady  of  the  house,  he  walked  two 
yards  ahead  of  her,  and  wouldn't  look  at  her  during  the 
dinner.  Funny  nigger! 

"  This  morning  the  admiral  signalled  for  all  com 
manding  officers  to  repair  on  board.  There  he  told 
us  that  we  would  have  to  be  at  Copenhagen  on  the 
nth,  and  that  he  would  then  transfer  his  flag  to  the 
New  York.  Orders  have  come  from  Washington  that 
we  are  to  assemble  at  Kiel  on  the  I5th — four  days  be 
fore  we  are  wanted — and  that  the  admiral,  captains, 
and  as  many  officers  as  the  ship  can  hold,  are  to  go  by 
rail  to  Hamburg,  and  thence  through  the  canal  on 
board  the  Marblehead. 

"  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  June  loth. — Here  we  are, 
and  if  I  am  to  do  much  of  this  sort  of  work  I  shall  need 


A  Sailor's  Log 

new  eyes  and  new  legs.  We  got  under  way  from 
Southampton  at  3  A.  M.  Saturday,  after  I  had  slept  just 
two  hours.  Friday  night  I  thought  I  would  get  some 
sleep,  but,  as  I  was  removing  my  coat,  four  English 
officers  came  on  board  to  say  good-bye,  and  it  was  mid 
night  when  they  left.  At  3  A.  M.  I  was  on  the  bridge, 
my  clothes  have  not  been  off  since,  and  my  poor 
legs  and  feet  are  very  bad.  When  we  got  under  way, 
Saturday,  the  Columbia  followed  immediately,  and  we 
had  it  'nip  and  tuck '  up  the  Channel.  After  three 
hours  we  passed  her,  both  of  us  going  very  fast,  and  as 
we  entered  the  Dover  Strait  we  were  leading  about  two 
ships'  lengths.  Off  the  South  Foreland  we  passed  the 
Spanish  squadron — the  Columbia  on  one  side  and  we 
on  the  other.  It  was  coming  on  foggy,  and  at  first  the 
Dons  could  not  make  us  out,  but  as  we  ranged  up 
abreast  of  their  rear  ship  they  '  caught  on/  and  their 
admiral,  not  wishing  to  exchange  salutes,  I  suppose, 
hauled  down  his  flag  until  we  had  passed  him.  At  the 
same  time  he  made  signal  for  full  speed,  and  it  was 
funny  to  see  his  efforts.  We  raced  by  them  as  if  they 
had  been  tied  to  a  wharf.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight — 
what  we  could  see  of  it  for  the  fog.  Shortly  afterward 
I  slowed  to  half  speed,  as  it  grew  so  thick  one  could 
'  cut  it  with  a  knife/  The  Columbia  passed  under  our 
stern,  going  full  speed,  and  we  saw  nothing  more  of 
her  until  we  found  her  anchored  here  at  noon  to-day. 

"  June  nth. — Night  before  last,  as  we  ran  out  of 
the  North  Sea,  the  sun  set  at  nine  o'clock  exactly,  and 
at  half  past  eleven  it  was  still  light  enough  to  read  on 
the  bridge.  The  twilight  gradually  moved  around  to 
northeast  and  the  moon  rose  in  the  south.  At  2  A.  M. 

372 


Arrival  at  Kiel 

the  sun  came  up  over  the  Swedish  mountains,  and  the 
scene  was  worth  coming  all  this  way  to  look  at.  About 
3  A.  M.  we  passed  a  fleet  of  battle  ships  heading  for 
Kiel,  and  soon  after  entered  Skaw  Sound  without  a 
pilot,  and  from  there  on  I  was  kept  busy." 

The  harbour  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a  small 
one,  and  the  channels  narrow  and  very  crooked;  but 
we  managed  after  a  while  to  get  a  good  berth  near  the 
San  Francisco.  Admiral  Kirkland  transferred  his  flag 
to  me  the  following  day  with  his  staff  and  all  their 
belongings,  but,  as  he  was  only  to  remain  on  board  a 
short  time,  concluded  to  mess  with  me  rather  than  start 
his  own  mess. 


373 


CHAPTER    XXX 

THE   KIEL   CELEBRATION 

Two  days  later  we  started  for  Kiel  through  the  in 
tricate  waters  of  the  Little  Belt  and  arrived  without 
accident.  On  the  way  we  passed  vessels  of  almost 
every  nation,  most  of  them  at  anchor  putting  the  last 
touch  of  paint  on  before  entering  the  harbour.  When 
off  the  entrance  to  the  port  we  were  met  by  a  torpedo 
boat,  which  put  a  German  naval  officer  on  board  of  each 
ship  to  show  us  where  our  buoys  were.  The  one  who 
came  to  us  was  from  the  Naval  College  in  Berlin  and 
was  detailed  for  duty  on  the  admiral's  staff  during  our 
stay.  He  spoke  English  well  and  was  a  most  accom 
plished  man. 

As  we  entered  the  harbour  we  found  the  German 
fleet  drawn  up  in  two  long  lines,  and  as  we  passed 
them  each  ship  manned  her  rigging  and  cheered  us. 
The  cheering  and  the  noise  of  the  saluting  guns 
made  quite  a  Fourth-of-July  effect.  Before  we  reached 
our  buoy  the  New  York  had  fired  one  hundred  and  fifty 
guns  in  saluting  the  various  notable  persons  in  the 
harbour,  though  the  Austrian  fleet  was  the  only  one 
ahead  of  us.  We  took  our  buoys  in  a  way  to  elicit  the 
admiration  of  all  who  saw  the  evolution.  As  soon  as 
we  were  fast  to  them,  the  telephone  from  shore  was  con- 

374 


A  Skilful  Emperor 

nected  to  our  pilot  house,  and  from  that  day  until  the 
day  of  our  departure  we  had  only  to  'phone  for  any 
thing  that  we  wanted  from  a  keg  of  beer  to  a  brown- 
stone  front  and  it  was  furnished  free  of  cost.  The  per 
fect  way  in  which  everything  was  arranged  was  a  great 
credit  to  the  emperor,  who  personally  had  his  eye  on 
every  detail.  Eighty-five  buoys  were  laid  down  in  the 
harbour,  each  one  with  the  number  of  the  ship  that  was 
to  take  it  painted  on  it,  and  on  top  the  flag  of  the  nation 
to  which  she  belonged.  Each  ship,  as  she  took  her 
buoy,  was  connected  with  the  shore  by  telephone,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  New  York. 

In  the  space  of  two  days  all  the  fleets  had  arrived 
and  were  composed  of  the  finest  ships  in  the  navies 
of  the  world.  The  question  of  the  exchange  of  official 
visits  under  such  circumstances  was  a  most  puzzling 
one,  and  here  the  good  sense  of  the  emperor  showed 
out  strongly.  He  designated  one  of  his  own  vessels, 
a  very  large  and  roomy  one,  and  invited  all  admirals 
and  captains  to  meet  him  there  at  breakfast.  With 
the  invitation  came  a  request  that  each  would  bring 
his  orderly  provided  with  a  mail  bag.  After  the 
breakfast  was  over,  the  orderlies  were  drawn  up  in 
line,  and  each  admiral  and  captain  dropped  his  card 
in  all  the  bags  except  his  own,  and  thus  in  a  few 
minutes  cards  had  been  exchanged  with  all  hands. 
After  that,  if  one  had  the  time,  he  could  call  on  such 
officers  as  he  had  known  before,  or  those  whose  ac 
quaintance  he  cared  to  make.  The  New  York  was 
about  the  newest  thing  in  the  way  of  a  cruiser,  and 
everybody  wanted  to  see  her.  She  was  also  neutral 
ground,  so  to  speak,  where  all  could  meet  with  a 

375 


A  Sailor's  Log 

freedom  not  possible  on  other  ships.  We  were  not 
hunting  for  alliances  with  other  nations  nor  they  with 
us,  and  we  could  be  and  were  as  independent  as  was  our 
far-away  country. 

The  French  and  Russian  fleets  met  outside  the  har 
bour  of  Kiel  and  came  in  together,  showing  in  this,  as 
in  other  actions,  their  strong  desire  to  have  the  recent 
alliance  between  the  two  countries  noticed.  Both 
admirals  declined  the  invitation  of  the  emperor  to 
land  their  crews  and  be  entertained  by  the  German 
naval  contingent,  and  both  fleets  put  to  sea  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  permitted  by  the  strictest 
etiquette. 

The  English  squadron  of  four  battle  ships  and  two 
armoured  cruisers  seemed  to  me  the  most  businesslike- 
looking  outfit  of  the  whole  gathering.  The  ships  were 
in  perfect  condition,  and  it  was  evident  at  a  glance  that 
they  were  not  made  so  for  the  occasion,  but  that  it  was 
their  usual  condition,  while  in  the  case  of  the  ships  of 
some  other  powers  the  practised  eye  could  see  that 
"  paint  and  putty  covered  a  multitude  of  sins."  I  was 
particularly  interested  in  the  English  cruiser  from 
which  the  New  York  was  supposed  by  many  to  have 
been  copied.  She  was  lying  very  near  us,  and  her  offi 
cers,  as  well  as  the  British  admiral  in  command,  after 
looking  us  over  carefully,  admitted  that  the  New  York 
was  far  the  better  ship  of  the  two.  The  admiral  finally 
asked  if  I  would  object  to  the  chief  constructor  of  the 
British  navy  coming  on  board  and  having  a  look  at  us, 
and  when  I  assured  him  that  it  would  give  me  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  show  my  ship  to  so  distinguished 
a  guest,  he  wired  the  admiralty,  and  I  afterward,  at 

376 


Opening  the  Canal 

Gravesend,  had  the  pleasure  of  having  Mr.  White  on 
board  for  many  hours. 

The  ceremonies  attendant  upon  the  opening  of  the 
Kiel  Canal  began  at  Hamburg,  where  the  burgomas 
ters  gave  a  banquet  to  the  emperor  and  his  guests. 
Twelve  hundred  sat  down  to  dinner,  among  them  the 
most  distinguished  men  in  Europe.  All  military  offi 
cers  were  in  special  full  dress  and  the  burgomasters 
wore  their  state  robes.  The  emperor  wore  a  gorgeous 
military  dress  with  many  brilliant  decorations.  After 
the  banquet  there  was  a  fine  display  of  fireworks  on  an 
island  in  the  lake,  which  had  been  made  for  the  occa 
sion.  Several  thousand  persons  walked  about  on  this 
island  listening  to  the  bands  and  enjoying  the  beer  and 
other  refreshments  which  were  in  abundance  every 
where,  and  I  doubt  if  any,  except  those  familiar  with 
the  place,  knew  that  they  were  on  made  ground,  so  per 
fectly  had  the  work  been  done.  In  the  midst  of  the 
banquet,  which  was  most  elaborate,  schooners  of  beer 
were  served.  The  idea  of  drinking  mine  was  more  than 
I  could  face,  but  the  German  officer  who  was  looking 
after  my  comfort  promptly  disposed  of  it  as  well  as 
his  own.  I  had  great  admiration  for  his  capacity. 

Before  this  time  the  admiral  commanding  each  fleet 
had  sent  a  small  vessel  to  Hamburg  to  convey  the  min 
ister  and  other  officials  through  the  canal.  After  the 
fireworks  display,  we  all  got  under  way  at  2  A.  M.  and 
started  down  the  river  according  to  rank,  the  emperor 
leading  in  the  Hohenzollern.  We,  having  the  baby 
admiral,  were  No.  20,  being  near  the  tail  end  of  the 
procession  instead  of  near  its  head,  where  the  impor 
tance  of  our  country  should  have  placed  us.  We  ran 

377 


A  Sailor's  Log 

down  the  Elbe  sixty  miles  to  Brunsbiittel,  where  we 
entered  the  canal,  steamed  through  it  a  distance  of 
about  seventy-eight  miles,  and  came  out  two  miles 
below  Kiel.  At  intervals  along  the  line  of  the  canal 
the  emperor  had  massed  bodies  of  troops,  who  were 
paraded  and  saluted  the  colours  as  each  vessel  passed. 
As  the  Hohenzollern,  showing  the  emperor's  flag,  en 
tered  the  harbour,  there  was  a  great  outburst  of  cheer 
ing  with  the  roar  of  salutes  as  the  assembled  fleets  wel 
comed  him. 

For  the  purpose  of  entertaining  his  naval  guests, 
the  emperor  had  built  on  the  land,  near  Holtnau,  al 
most  at  the  Kiel  entrance  to  the  canal,  a  large  ship  of 
the  line.  She  was  full  ship-rigged,  had  all  her  yards 
across,  and  her  gun  deck  was  beautifully  decorated  for 
the  dinner,  which  was  given  on  the  day  following  our 
arrival  from  Hamburg.  When  the  banquet  was  over, 
souvenir  medals  were  presented  to  all  of  us  and  we 
retired  to  the  upper  deck  for  our  cigars,  where  all  were 
presented  personally  to  his  Majesty  and  exchanged  a 
few  pleasant  words  with  him.  I  stood  near  him  during 
the  time  he  conversed  with  the  French  admiral  and  his 
officers,  waiting  my  turn  to  be  presented,  and  could  not 
help  being  impressed  by  his  manner  as  well  as  by  that 
of  the  Frenchmen.  They  were  all  ideally  polite,  but 
there  was,  in  the  bearing  of  the  emperor,  a  hearty  feeling 
of  success  which  I  did  not  observe  in  the  manner  of  the 
distinguished  officers  who  were  saying  good-bye  to  him. 
They  were  to  sail  in  the  early  morning  in  company  with 
the  Russian  fleet.  When  I  was  presented  to  him  the 
emperor  gave  me  a  cordial  hand-shake  and  kept  others 
waiting  quite  five  minutes  while  he  talked  to  me  in  the 

378 


Fireworks 

most  pleasant  way.  He  had  many  questions  to  ask  me, 
which  he  said  he  would  expect  me  to  answer  before  I 
left  Kiel.  His  whole  manner  to  the  American  officers 
was  most  pleasing  and  cordial. 

I  had  arranged  with  the  chief  of  staff  to  get  rid  of 
my  fireworks  on  this  occasion,  that  the  emperor  might 
witness  them  on  his  way  back  to  the  Hohenzollern  from 
dinner.  Certain  signals  had  been  agreed  upon,  and 
when  these  were  made,  indicating  that  his  Majesty  was 
in  position  to  see,  the  New  York  cut  loose.  All  the 
ships  had  been  doing  something  in  the  way  of  fireworks, 
but  it  had  leaked  out  somehow  that  the  Yankees  had 
something  up  their  sleeve,  and  when  we  began,  all  the 
rest  stopped  to  see  what  would  happen.  We  started 
off  with  a  set  piece  eighty  feet  long  suspended  between 
our  military  masts,  a  portrait  of  President  Cleveland 
at  one  end  and  of  the  emperor  at  the  other,  and  between 
them  the  legend  in  German  script,  "  America  sends 
heartfelt  congratulations  to  Germany  on  the  opening 
of  the  North  Sea  Canal."  As  this  blazed  out,  the  thou 
sands  of  people  massed  on  the  shore  only  three  hundred 
yards  away  broke  into  a  great  roar  of  cheers,  which 
was  taken  up  by  the  different  ships,  and  gradually  died 
out  in  the  distance.  Then  the  show  went  on  with  such 
bursts  of  rockets  and  bombs  and  mines  as  had  never 
before  been  seen  on  a  ship,  and  finally  wound  up  with  an 
other  set  piece,  the  American  shield  at  one  end,  the 
German  double  eagle  at  the  other,  and  "  Good-night " 
between  them.  The  upper  deck  of  the  New  York  had 
been  carefully  covered  with  six  inches  of  wet  sand,  but, 
notwithstanding  many  streams  of  water  were  constantly 
playing,  I  found  that  we  were  badly  marked  in  many 

379 


A  Sailor's  Log 

places.  The  carpenters  were  busy  with  their  planes 
for  several  days  before  they  were  all  removed.  The 
German  papers,  as  well  as  all  the  officers  who  witnessed 
the  display,  were  unstinted  in  their  praise.  The  feel 
ing  uppermost  in  my  mind  was  one  of  thankfulness  that 
it  was  all  over  without  an  accident. 

At  a  reception  given  on  board  one  of  the  German 
battle  ships  on  the  Sunday  after  our  arrival  I  had  an 
interesting  experience.  When  I  went  over  the  side  I 
found  a  large  company,  most  of  them  dancing.  As  I 
was  not  a  dancing  man,  I  stood  to  one  side  to  be  out  of 
the  way,  and  entered  into  conversation  with  a  young 
clean-cut-looking  German  captain  who  spoke  English 
perfectly.  It  was  soon  evident  to  me  that  he  was  bril 
liant  in  his  profession,  and  we  engaged  in  a  rather  sharp 
professional  talk.  I  did  not  agree  with  the  captain, 
whose  name  I  had  not  caught,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
speak  my  mind — nor  did  he.  After  a  time  he  said  he 
would  be  glad  to  present  me  to  his  wife,  which  he  did, 
and  I  found  her  a  very  charming  and  attractive  woman. 
Of  course  I  had  not  caught  her  name  either,  and,  after 
talking  with  her  half  an  hour,  I  noticed  that  a  good 
many  people  seemed  to  be  waiting  to  speak  to  her,  so 
I  took  myself  off  to  the  smoking  apartment  to  enjoy 
a  cigar.  When  I  entered,  Admiral  Knorr  greeted  me 
and  said,  "  Evans,  the  prince  says  you  are  a  good  fel 
low,  and  he  wants  the  emperor  to  know  you."  I  re 
plied,  "  My  dear  admiral,  I  haven't  seen  the 'prince  and 
don't  know  him."  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  you  ought  to 
know  him;  you  have  been  talking  shop  with  him  for 
half  an  hour,  and  I  don't  know  what  you  have  been  say 
ing  to  the  princess  during  your  conversation  with  her." 


A  Prince  Unawares 

I  had  been  talking  with  two  of  the  most  delightful 
people  I  ever  met,  Prince  Henry  and  the  Princess  Irene, 
without  knowing  in  the  least  who  they  were,  and  I  cer 
tainly  told  them  both  exactly  what  I  thought  about  the 
different  things  we  discussed.  The  prince  was  in  his 
uniform  as  a  captain  in  the  navy,  and  commanded  the 
vessel  on  which  the  reception  was  given.  I  afterward 
saw  much  of  both  of  them  and  was  indebted  to  them 
for  much  courtesy,  and  the  better  I  knew  them  the 
more  I  saw  in  them  to  admire.  It  was  no  doubt  owing 
to  the  courtesy  of  Prince  Henry  that  his  brother,  the 
emperor,  gave  me  such  marks  of  his  distinguished  con 
sideration.  The  Princess  Irene  came  several  times  to 
the  New  York,  and  seemed  always  interested  and 
pleased  with  her  visits. 


381 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

THE   GERMAN   EMPEROR 

THE  racing  spirit  was  rife  at  Kiel,  and  our  men 
were  delighted  to  have  a  hand  in  anything  in  that  line. 
The  San  Francisco  held  the  championship  of  the  navy 
for  twelve-oared  cutters,  and  had  on  board  the  boat 
with  which  she  had  won  it.  We  of  the  New  York  had 
a  boat  as  yet  untried  and  unnamed,  which  we  thought 
well  of,  and  I  had  given  much  time  and  care  to  the  train 
ing  of  a  crew,  with  the  intention  of  winning  the  coveted 
prize  if  possible.  When  we  met  at  Kiel  we  raced  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  foreign  ships,  and  my  men  won  by 
a  good  margin.  This  led  to  an  interesting  incident, 
which  I  shall  record  later  on.  We  also  entered  our  sail 
ing  launch  for  the  regatta,  which  was  arranged  by  the 
emperor  for  man-of-war  boats  under  sail,  and  won  the 
fifth  prize,  competing  with  thirty-six  German  boats  of 
the  same  kind.  It  was  generally  admitted  that  we 
would  have  taken  the  first  prize  if  there  had  been  a 
bit  more  wind.  When  the  race  started,  the  breeze  was 
very  light  and  all  German  boats  were  well  ahead  of  us, 
but  later  on  it  freshened  up,  and  it  was  glorious  to  see 
the  way  our  boat  walked  out  to  windward  of  them. 
At  the  finish  we  had  done  up  all  but  five,  and  were  so 
close  to  them  that  ten  minutes  more  would  have  given 

382 


A  Ball  on  Board 

us  the  lead.    We  were  the  only  outsiders  in  the  race, 
and  brought  away  two  silver  cups  as  our  trophies. 

In  return  for  all  the  hospitality  we  had  received 
we  gave  two  entertainments  of  note.  The  officers  of 
all  the  ships  combined,  and  gave  a  dancing  reception 
on  board  the  New  York,  and  I  a  dinner  to  the  em 
peror  and  a  party  of  his  ranking  officers.  Of  course, 
all  the  ships  were  constantly  entertaining  officers  of 
various  nationalities,  and  I  doubt  if  there  was  a  meal 
served  in  any  mess  of  our  fleet  during  our  stay  at  Kiel, 
not  even  a  breakfast,  without  the  presence  of  guests.  I 
can  not  do  better  than  quote  the  following  from  my 
journal  written  at  the  time: 

"  Kiel,  June  28,  1895. — The  Kiel  spree  is  a  thing  of 
the  past,  and  we  are  now  only  waiting  the  arrival  of  our 
orders  to  be  off.  The  whole  business  has  been  the  most 
complete  success  possible,  and  when  the  last  one  of  our 
nine  hundred  guests  left,  yesterday  evening,  I  was  grati 
fied  to  think  that  we  had  not  had  a  mishap  of  any  kind 
except  the  explosion  of  the  San  Francisco's  launch 
boiler,  which  was  nothing.  In  order  to  wind  up  in 
proper  shape,  we  gave  a  dancing  reception  on  board  the 
New  York.  All  ships  combined,  and  it  was  a  magnifi 
cent  success.  All  Kiel  was  invited,  and  all  Kiel  is  talk 
ing  of  it  to-day. 

"  Unfortunately,  the  empress  was  too  ill  to  come, 
and  the  Princess  Henry  could  not  leave  her,  which  was 
a  disappointment  to  all  hands.  We  had  two  bands  and 
no  end  of  dancing  on  both  decks  from  three  o'clock  to 
7.30.  The  flowers  were  beautiful,  the  women  more  so, 
and  the  food  excellent — they  drank  nineteen  kegs  of 
beer  and  thirty  gallons  of  punch. 

383 


A  Sailor's  Log 

"  On  the  26th  Prince  and  Princess  Henry  came  in 
the  afternoon  with  a  party  of  ladies  and  spent  two  hours 
on  the  ship,  really  enjoying  themselves.  When  they 
were  about  to  go,  the  princess  presented  me  with  her 
photograph,  and  I  was  ashamed  to  have  to  say  that  I 
had  not  one  of  mine  to  give  her  in  return.  They  are 
lovely,  refined,  kindly  people,  and  I  am  glad  to  have 
known  them. 

"  The  evening  of  the  26th  was  the  crucial  test.  I 
had  invited  the  emperor  and  Prince  Henry  and  ten 
admirals  to  dine,  and  they  all  accepted.  When  the 
emperor  came  on  board  I  had  the  men  and  officers 
massed  aft  on  the  superstructure  and  in  the  gangways, 
and  as  soon  as  Admiral  Kirkland  had  welcomed  him  I 
made  him  a  short  speech,  reciting  that  we  had  the 
champion  twelve-oared  cutter  of  the  American  navy, 
and  asked  on  the  part  of  my  crew  the  honour  of  nam 
ing  her  after  his  daughter  Victoria  Louisa.  He  was 
really  touched  by  the  compliment,  and,  taking  my  hand, 
granted  my  request  most  graciously.  As  soon  as  I 
could,  I  turned  to  the  crew  and  called  for  three  cheers 
for  the  Victoria  Louisa,  and  then  three  cheers  and  a 
tiger  for  the  emperor.  I  don't  think  he  ever  heard  such 
cheers  before.  It  was  a  very  pretty  episode  and  gave 
our  dinner  a  good  start. 

"  As  soon  as  we  sat  down  the  emperor  said:  '  How 
pleased  the  empress  will  be  when  she  hears  of  this !  You 
must  have  your  boat  and  crew  photographed  and  send 
the  empress  one.'  (This  I  did  on  my  return  to  New 
York.) 

"  The  dinner  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  I 
have  ever  seen,  a  perfect  success,  and  George,  my 

384 


Inspection  by  the  Emperor 

steward,  who  bossed  the  entire  affair,  is  as  proud  as  a 
peacock. 

"  At  i  A.  M.  the  emperor  expressed  a  desire  to  visit 
and  inspect  the  engine  room.  And  so  we  did.  He 
looked  into  every  hole  and  corner,  and  even  had  us 
disconnect  one  of  the  engines,  marking  time  on  us 
himself.  Then  we  went  through  the  gun  deck  and  out 
on  to  the  forecastle,  where  he  asked  how  long  it  would 
take  to  close  all  water-tight  doors.  I  replied  that  in 
the  daytime  we  could  do  it  in  thirty  seconds,  but  at 
night  it  required  about  two  minutes.  Much  to  my  sur 
prise,  he  asked  if  I  would  mind  doing  it  for  him.  Of 
course  I  had  to  say  yes,  but  when  I  tried  to  blow  the 
siren,  the  signal  to  close  water-tight  doors,  there  was 
not  steam  enough,  and  the  blessed  thing  would  not 
blow.  The  emperor  thought  he  had  me,  and  said, 
*  Now  you  see,  captain,  you  can't  close  your  bulk 
heads/  But  he  did  not  know  everything.  I  said, 
'  You  will  see  in  a  moment,  sir/  and  I  touched  one  of 
the  general  alarm  buttons,  which  calls  all  hands  to 
quarters,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  men  were  swarming 
up  like  rats. 

"  The  emperor  took  the  time  himself,  and  in  one 
minute  and  a  half  the  entire  ship  was  ready  for  ac 
tion  with  all  water-tight  doors  closed.  It  was  2  A.  M., 
the  royal  standard  at  our  main  and  the  search  light  of 
the  Columbia  turned  on  it,  the  ship  ready  for  action, 
and  the  emperor  complimenting  the  captain  on  the 
forecastle.  I  find  myself  in  some  funny  positions. 

"  When  we  went  aft,  where  every  one  could  hear 
him,  he  said,  '  Captain  Evans,  I  can  not  imagine  that  a 
ship  could  be  in  better  condition  ' — very  nice  for  all  of 

385 


A  Sailor's  Log 

us.  He  left  the  ship  just  at  2  A.  M.,  and  all  Germany  has 
been  reading  accounts  of  it  since." 

I  can  recall  very  vividly  how  surprised  I  was  when 
at  five  o'clock  the  same  morning  my  orderly  called  me 
out  of  a  sound  sleep  to  report  that  the  officer  of  the 
deck  said  the  emperor  was  just  then  passing  the  ship, 
steering  his  own  yacht.  My  only  reply  was,  "  For 
Heaven's  sake  don't  stop  him!  "  I  managed  to  get  one 
eye  open,  and,  looking  out  of  an  air  port  in  my  cabin, 
discovered  him,  dressed  in  white  flannels,  steering  the 
Meteor  bound  for  an  ocean  race,  and  looking  as  if  he 
had  never  taken  a  drink  or  smoked  a  cigar  in  his  life. 

People  often  ask  me  to  tell  them  what  impression 
the  emperor  made  on  me,  and  I  always  find  it  very  diffi 
cult  to  answer  the  question.  To  say  that  he  made  a 
pleasant  impression  is  simple  and  easy,  but  it  means 
nothing.  I  found  him  one  of  the  most  magnetic  and 
companionable  of  men — I  should  say,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  the  most  magnetic.  He  knows  more  about 
more  different  things  than  any  man  I  have  ever  met. 
When  I  was  in  Kiel  my  band  was  playing  music  com 
posed  by  him,  and  on  my  cabin  table  was  a  book  of 
poems  written  by  him.  He  was  the  head  and  front  of 
the  finest  army  in  the  world,  and  at  the  same  time 
giving  his  personal  attention  to  what  must  some  day  be 
reckoned  one  of  the  leading  navies.  The  Kiel  Canal 
was  of  his  creation,  and  his  engineers  .told  me  that  he 
was  familiar  with  all  its  details,  as  well  as  with  those  of 
bridge-building  in  a  large  sense.  The  farmers  in 
formed  me  that  he  could  instruct  them  in  their  busi 
ness,  and  I  personally  saw  him  manoeuvre  a  fleet  at  sea 
in  the  most  creditable  way.  After  luncheon  at  the 

386 


A  Talk  with  the  Emperor 

palace  one  day,  during  a  very  interesting  conversation, 
he  described  to  me  our  first  battle  ship,  the  Indiana, 
which  I  afterward  commanded,  and  his  knowledge  of 
her  construction  and  details  of  armour  and  guns  was 
perfect.  He  seemed  to  have  the  same  knowledge  of  all 
foreign  ships.  When  I  gave  him  a  Smithfield  ham  for 
dinner  he  even  knew  where  Smithfield  was. 

On  one  occasion  the  emperor  turned  on  me  sud 
denly  and  said:  "  Captain,  I  understand  you  think  I 
ought  to  have  a  strong  navy.  Will  you  tell  me  why 
you  think  so?  "  I  replied  that  many  of  us  who  were 
interested  in  such  matters  had  observed  that  the  Jews 
had  at  one  time  made  serious  encroachments  on  Eng 
lish  trade,  but  having  no  navy,  of  course  they  made  no 
efforts  to  control  the  carrying  trade;  that  then  we  had 
observed  that  the  Germans  had  taken  a  hand  in  the 
game  and  had  beaten  the  Jews,  as  they  had  the  English, 
and  that  if  I  read  the  signs  correctly,  he,  the  emperor, 
meant  with  his  cheaply  built  merchant  ships  to  follow 
up  this  advantage  of  the  German  merchants  and  control 
the  carrying  trade  of  the  world.  I  pointed  out  to  him 
that  a  powerful  navy  was  necessary  to  this  scheme  to 
protect  his  merchant  fleet  against  the  navies  of  those 
who  might  be  disposed  to  contest  this  supremacy  with 
him.  He  listened  very  attentively,  and  when  I  had 
finished  he  said,  "  Captain,  unfortunately,  my  Parlia 
ment  does  not  entertain  the  same  view  of  the  ques 
tion."  To  which  I  replied,  "  If  your  Majesty  will  per 
mit  me  to  say  so,  I  think  you  will  eventually  bring 
your  Parliament  to  think  as  you  do."  I  had  many 
opportunities  to  see  him  among  his  people,  and  if  he 
was  not  their  idol,  then  they  were  certainly  well  up  in 

387 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  art  of  deception,  for  they  seemed  to  worship  him. 
To  us,  as  representatives  of  our  country,  he  was  most 
cordial  and  considerate,  and  took  no  pains  to  conceal 
from  others  his  strong  friendship  for  the  United  States. 
I  shall  always  remember  him  as  I  last  saw  him.  He 
had  given  a  splendid  banquet  in  Kiel  as  a  finish  to  his 
wonderfully  successful  opening  of  the  canal.  On  one 
side  of  him  sat  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis,  on  the  other  the 
Duke  of  York,  while  the  lesser  lights  were  seated  ac 
cording  to  rank.  At  the  proper  moment  the  emperor 
rose  from  his  chair  and,  with  a  full  glass  of  champagne 
in  his  extended  hand,  in  clear,  ringing  tones  that  could 
be  heard  in  every  part  of  the  room,  said,  in  perfect  Eng 
lish,  "I  drink  to  all  the  great  sea  nations  who  have  sent 
their  magnificent  fleets  to  Kiel  to  join  in  the  opening 
ceremonies  of  the  North  Sea  Canal."  He  was  to  me 
the  picturesque  figure  among  all  the  ruling  heads  of 
Europe. 


388 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

BACK   TO    HOME    WATERS 

ON  June  3Oth  I  left  Kiel  with  much  regret  and 
started  on  my  return  trip  to  New  York,  via  Eng 
land.  The  following  extract  from  my  journal  is  of 
interest. 

"  North  Sea,  July  I,  1895. — We  left  Kiel  at  2  A.  M. 
yesterday  and  had  a  beautiful  run  through  the  intricate 
channels  of  the  Great  Belt  and  out  of  the  Skager  Rack. 
The  Columbia  started  with  us  and  was  in  company 
until  seven  in  the  evening,  when  we  ran  her  out  of  sight. 
The  wind  was  fresh  from  the  northwest,  which  was 
ahead,  and  the  fleet  of  sailing  craft  beating  out  of  the 
Baltic  was  beautiful  to  see,  but  I  was  glad  when  we 
were  clear  of  them.  We  shall  probably  be  in  Gravesend 
at  8  A.  M.  to-morrow,  weather  permitting. 

"  July  2d. — An  awful  night!  Up  all  night  and  most 
anxious.  North  Sea  full  of  vessels,  and  the  rain  and 
fog  nasty.  Made  the  coast  of  England  at  2  A.  M.  and 
found  a  pilot,  but  he  was  afraid  to  take  us  in,  so  away 
I  went  to  Ramsgate,  where  we  arrived  three  hours  later, 
and  soon  had  another  pilot  on  board  who  brought  us 
to  this  anchorage,  six  miles  below  Gravesend.  Blow 
ing  a  living  gale  all  the  way  up,  and  my  eyes  fairly  cut 
out  of  my  head.  As  soon  as  the  tide  serves  I  shall  go 
*  389 


A  Sailor's  Log 

up  to  the  town,  make  fast  to  a  buoy,  coal  ship,  and  get 
ready  for  the  trip  to  New  York. 

"  At  Sea,  Six  Hundred  Miles  off  New  York,  July  22d. 
— We  have  had  a  real  old-fashioned  '  North  Atlantic 
passage  ' — one  gale  following  another  in  rapid  succes 
sion.  Until  yesterday  the  shaking  of  the  ship  was  so 
bad  that  writing  was  practically  impossible,  but  now  it 
has  calmed  down  somewhat. 

"  Our  last  days  at  Gravesend  were  well  filled  with 
visits.  Mr.  White,  chief  constructor,  came  down  from 
London,  bringing  some  of  his  staff,  to  make  notes  on 
the  ship,  and  the  same  day  Admiral  Morant  came  up 
from  Chatham  to  spend  the  day,  so  we  had  a  merry 
lunch  party.  On  Sunday,  Admiral  Hotham  and  Cap 
tain  Lambton  came  down  from  the  city,  and  we  had  a 
long  yarn  over  old  times.  In  the  meantime  the  ship 
was  so  crowded  with  all  sorts  of  people  that  we  had  to 
stop  them  from  coming  on  board.  Everybody,  from 
the  member  of  Parliament  for  the  district  down  to  the 
servant  maids,  wanted  to  see  the  ship,  and  were,  one 
and  all,  most  enthusiastic  over  her  condition.  I  never 
knew  more  hospitable  people  in  my  life — they  wanted 
to  do  all  sorts  of  things  for  us,  from  four-in-hand  drives 
to  dinner  parties. 

"  On  Monday,  at  4  A.  M.,  we  left,  and  once  being 
clear  of  the  river  and  down  as  far  as  Dover,  I  let  her 
go  on  her  semiannual  full-speed  trial.  We  had  a 
straight  run  in  the  Channel  for  it,  and  I  was  grati 
fied  to  find  that  the  engines  and  all  their  dependencies 
were  in  better  condition  than  when  we  made  our  trial  in 
January  last.  We  had  half  a  gale  on  our  nose  all  day 
and  all  night,  and  when  we  cleared  the  Scilly  Islands,  at 

390 


Fleet  Drills 

four  the  next  morning,  it  turned  into  a  whole  gale  from 
northwest  with  a  nasty  sea,  and  that  state  of  things 
continued  until  yesterday  afternoon,  when  it  broke,  and 
only  the  long,  heavy  sea  remains.  We  should  have 
made  New  York  to-morrow  evening  if  the  weather 
had  been  halfway  decent,  but  as  it  is  we  shall  go  in 
on  Thursday — not  a  bad  run,  everything  considered. 
Through  it  all  the  ship  has  proved  herself  wonderfully 
able  and  seaworthy,  and  I  wish  we  had  more  like  her, 
instead  of  the  Columbia  and  Raleigh  classes." 

Upon  my  arrival  in  New  York,  July  25th,  I  was 
ordered  to  report  to  Admiral  Bunce  for  duty  as  flag 
ship  of  the  North  Atlantic  squadron,  which  I  did  at  the 
navy  yard  on  the  following  day.  I  had  carried  the 
flag  of  two  admirals,  and  now  had  the  third,  which  was 
a  rare  experience  for  any  captain,  and  one  I  imagine  few 
captains  would  ever  care  to  have.  Flagship  duty  is  not 
considered  desirable  as  a  general  rule. 

When  the  New  York  had  had  some  small  repairs 
made,  we  began  cruising,  and  Admiral  Bunce  inaugu 
rated  the  system  of  fleet  drills  which  did  so  much  to 
prepare  the  navy  for  its  success  in  the  Spanish  War 
which  came  a  few  years  later.  I  am  sure  that  the  feel 
ing  is  general,  among  officers  at  least,  that  no  officer 
ever  did  more  conscientious  work — work  that  led  to 
more  splendid  results — than  Admiral  Bunce.  He  es 
tablished  two  drill  grounds,  as  they  were  called — one 
off  New  York  and  one  off  Cape  Henry,  Virginia — and 
when  not  coaling,  the  fleet  could  be  found  on  one  or 
the  other  of  these  grounds  or  cruising  between  them 
for  months.  We  had  constant  torpedo  drill,  until  each 
torpedo  on  board  could  be  made  to  run  with  all  the 


A  Sailor's  Log 

accuracy  it  was  capable  of.  The  firing  was  systematic 
and  continued  until  the  gun  captains  could  hit  the 
target  with  reasonable  certainty;  and  the  ships  were 
kept  under  way  in  all  kinds  of  fleet  manoeuvres  at  differ 
ent  speeds,  until  those  in  charge  of  them  could  handle 
them  with  confidence  and  without  fear  of  collision. 
I  am  sure  no  such  persistent  work  was  ever  before  done 
by  any  fleet,  and  the  good  effects  were  most  marked. 


392 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

ON   THE   INDIANA 

IN  October  following  my  return  from  Kiel,  I  was 
detached  from  command  of  the  New  York  and  ordered 
to  Philadelphia  to  fit  out  and  command  the  Indiana, 
our  first  battle  ship.  She  had  been  built  at  Cramp's 
shipyard,  and  was  the  heaviest  armed  and  armoured 
ship  in  the  world.  The  New  York  had  seemed  to  me 
a  complicated  mass  of  machinery,  but  this  new  thing 
was  a  real  machine  shop  from  top  to  bottom.  It  re 
quired  weeks  of  hard  work  and  study  after  I  joined 
her  before  I  felt  reasonably  sure  that  I  would  not  get 
lost,  if  I  attempted  to  inspect  her  throughout;  but 
when  I  did  get  the  hang  of  her  she  certainly  was  a 
magnificent  command.  The  Department  had  selected 
a  very  fine  set  of  officers  for  her,  and  to  them,  particu 
larly  to  the  able  executive  officer,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander  Swift,  I  owe  all  the  reputation  I  made  in  her. 
After  two  months  of  constant  work  we  got  away  from 
League  Island,  and,  having  taken  in  our  torpedoes  at 
Newport,  joined  the  admiral  at  Fortress  Monroe.  Be 
fore  reporting  to  him,  however,  the  Inspection  Board, 
presided  over  by  Commodore  George  Dewey,  took 
us  to  sea  and  gave  us  a  thorough  overhauling.  Their 
report  was  very  favourable,  considering  the  short  time 

393 


A  Sailor's  Log 

we  had  been  in  commission  and  the  few  opportunities 
we  had  had  for  working  the  enormous  guns  of  her  bat 
tery.  She  carried  the  first  thirteen-inch  breech-loading 
rifles  ever  put  afloat  in  our  service;  she  had  four  of 
them  mounted  in  pairs  in  turrets,  one  forward  and  the 
other  aft. 

During  the  winter  it  became  necessary  to  clean  the 
bottom  of  the  Indiana,  and  the  so-called  dock  at  Port 
Royal,  South  Carolina,  was  the  only  one  ready  to  re 
ceive  her.  I  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  that  point  for 
the  purpose,  and  then  return  to  my  station  with  the 
fleet. .  I  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads  with  coal  enough 
to  leave  me  with  only  two  hundred  tons  on  board  when 
I  should  reach  my  destination,  hoping  in  this  way  to 
reduce  the  draught  of  the  ship  as  much  as  possible. 
Everything  went  well  with  me  until  I  had  passed  Cape 
Hatteras,  when  I  ran  into  a  sudden  terrific  gale,  which 
soon  produced  a  very  ugly  heavy  sea.  I  was  naturally 
desirous  of  testing  the  ship  in  such  weather,  as  none  of 
us  knew  what  a  battle  ship  would  do  under  such  condi 
tions,  so  I  kept  her  going  at  full  speed  and  drove  her 
hard  into  the  seas.  We  were  soon  battened  down  fore 
and  aft,  and,  despite  our  best  efforts,  much  water  found 
its  way  below.  The  waves  were  going  clear  over  us 
forward,  at  times  completely  covering  our  thirteen-inch 
gun  turret  with  solid  green  water  and  throwing  heavy 
spray  over  the  upper  bridge.  Having  satisfied  myself 
that  the  Indiana  could  stand  any  amount  of  sea,  so  long 
as  she  was  kept  head  on  to  it,  I  changed  the  course  and 
brought  the  sea  abeam,  when  to  my  surprise  she  rolled 
very  little  and  was  entirely  comfortable,  except  for  the 
water  sweeping  over  her  spar  deck.  I  then  slowed  her 

394 


In  Dock  at  Port  Royal 

down  to  good  steerage  way,  when  she  was  as  dry  as 
a  cork  and  looked  like  a  small  island  surrounded  by 
seething  white  breakers. 

When  the  fury  of  the  gale  had  passed  I  steamed 
on  to  the  Port  Royal  lightship,  and  there  waited  for 
high  water  to  help  me  over  the  dangerous  bar.  With 
a  lighthouse  tender  sounding  ahead  of  me  I  passed 
in  on  the  very  top  of  high  water,  and  at  the  worst 
point  in  the  channel  had  just  one  foot  of  water  to 
spare.  The  least  tit  of  a  sea  would  have  caused  us 
to  take  the  bottom,  which  is  of  hard  sand.  The  risk 
was  very  great  and  the  sensation  anything  but  pleas 
ant.  Once  inside,  however,  we  were  comparatively 
safe,  and  I  steamed  on  to  the  so-called  dockyard, 
hoping  to  dock  the  ship  at  once.  When  I  arrived 
there,  however,  I  found  that  nothing  was  ready  for 
me.  There  was  not  sufficient  water  even  if  the  dock 
had  been  ready.  In  the  meantime  the  tide  had  begun 
to  fall,  and  I  was  caught  like  a  rat  in  a  trap.  It  was 
impossible  to  take  the  ship  to  the  lower  bay  again 
on  that  tide,  so  I  had  to  remain  where  I  was.  The 
commanding  officer  of  the  station  and  the  pilots  came 
on  board  and  pointed  out  to  me  a  berth  where  the 
largest  ship  in  the  world  could  safely  swing  to  her 
anchors.  Indeed,  according  to  their  accounts,  the  only 
trouble  with  the  place  was  that  they  had  too  much 
water  and  too  much  swinging  room.  However,  I  had 
my  own  views  about  all  this;  but  as  I  could  not  get 
away,  I  had  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

Half  of  South  Carolina  was  on  hand  to  see  the  first 
great  battle  ship  placed  in  their  beautiful  dock,  and  as 
soon  as  I  had  anchored  in  the  selected  spot  they  crowded 

395 


A  Sailor's  Log 

on  board  of  me  by  thousands.  The  ship  filled  to  suf 
focation  with  them,  when  at  half  tide  she  sat  down  on 
the  hard  bottom  and  remained  there,  much  to  my  dis 
comfort.  I  soon  hustled  the  visitors  out  and  then 
waited  quietly  to  see  what  harm  would  be  done  before  I 
could  get  out  of  the  trap  in  which  I  was  caught.  It 
was  impossible  to  move  until  daylight  the  following 
morning,  when  I  hoped  that  Divine  Providence  would 
send  in  a  tide  sufficient  for  me  to  go  into  dock.  As 
the  flood  made,  it  lifted  the  ship  from  her  uncom 
fortable  and  dangerous  berth  and  she  swung  with 
her  stern  up  stream,  in  which  position  I  attempted 
to  hold  her  with  heavy  stern  anchors,  but  it  was  no  use. 
There  was  so  little  water  under  her  that  she  practically 
formed  a  dam,  and  no  power  on  earth  could  hold  her. 
As  the  ebb  tide  again  made,  she  swung  to  it,  and  I  found 
myself  with  a  wire  hawser  wound  around  our  propellers 
to  add  to  my  comfort.  The  moment  there  was  water 
enough  I  cleared  out  and  anchored  in  the  bay  eight 
miles  away  from  the  bothersome  dock. 

Each  high  tide  for  a  week  I  got  under  way  and 
came  up  only  to  find  that  there  was  not  water  enough. 
Then  I  settled  down  to  drill  and  target  practice,  de 
termined  to  wait  until  an  easterly  gale  or  some  other 
convulsion  of  Nature  should  send  in  the  desired  quan 
tity  of  water.  I  waited,  as  I  now  recall  it,  nearly  two 
weeks  before  I  succeeded,  and  then  only  got  into  the 
dock  by  driving  my  engines  at  full  speed.  As  we 
passed  over  the  sill  we  had  just  five  inches  of  water  to 
spare.  Once  in  and  the  gates  closed,  we  were  safe 
until  such  time  as  we  wanted  to  get  out  again;  but  as 
there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  water  enough  for 

396 


A  Critical  Moment 

that,  I  gave  myself  no  concern  about  it.  As  the  dock 
was  being  emptied,  the  powerful  pumps  gradually 
slowed  down  and  finally  stopped,  choked  up  with 
shrimp.  Cart  loads  of  the  finest  shrimp  I  ever  saw  were 
taken  out  before  the  pumps  were  cleared  and  fit  to  run 
again.  When  the  water  was  all  out,  I  fed  my  crew  of 
five  hundred  men  on  fresh  shellfish  the  like  of  which 
they  had  never  before  seen.  We  had  found  one  good 
thing  at  least  in  the  Port  Royal  naval  station,  but  I 
could  not  help  thinking  that  it  was  a  costly  and  danger 
ous  way  of  getting  shrimp. 

Two  days  was  all  we  required  to  do  the  necessary 
work,  and  after  that  we  waited  for  water  enough  to 
escape.  For  nine  days  we  watched  the  gauge,  and 
then  an  easterly  wind  swelled  the  tide  to  the  neces 
sary  point  and  we  started.  When  about  half  of  the  ship 
was  clear  of  the  entrance  the  flood  tide  caught  her 
stern  and  she  started  in  the  direction  of  a  heavy  stone 
structure,  which  was  sure  to  crush  her  side  in  if  she 
struck  it.  There  was  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  I  did 
that  as  promptly  as  I  could.  I  rang  both  engines  full 
speed  astern,  and  called  out  for  all  hands  to  stand  clear 
of  the  lines  and  hawsers  by  which  we  were  held.  The 
engines  responded  promptly,  the  ship  gathered  way 
quickly,  and,  after  a  second  or  two  of  snapping  lines, 
she  shot  out  of  the  dock  into  the  stream.  For  a  few 
minutes  it  looked  as  if  she  must  be  seriously  damaged, 
but  she  escaped  the  threatening  stone  structure  by 
exactly  eleven  inches.  We  had  a  cork  fender  hanging 
over  the  side  which  was  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  and 
she  squeezed  this  against  the  blocks  of  granite  as  she 
passed.  I  lost  no  time  in  making  my  way  to  a  safe 

397 


A  Sailor's  Log 

anchorage,  firmly  resolved  that  if  any  more  battle  ships 
were  to  be  docked  at  Port  Royal  some  other  captain 
would  have  to  command  them. 

The  Indiana  was  soon  again  with  the  fleet,  and  when 
the  Massachusetts  had  been  fitted  out  and  commis 
sioned,  the  two  of  them  formed  an  excellent  unit  in 
the  long  months  of  drill  which  followed.  Admiral 
Bunce  kept  us  at  it  night  and  day,  until  the  officers  had 
become  as  familiar  with  handling  battle  ships  as  they 
had  previously  been  with  smaller  vessels.  We  took 
them  to  the  navy  yard  and  berthed  them  without  even 
the  assistance  of  tugs,  and  the  way  we  handled  them 
in  the  narrow  parts  of  crowded  New  York  Harbour 
showed  that  some  of  us  had  mastered  our  job.  And 
we  had  mastered  it  in  the  only  way  possible  to  seamen 
— by  constant  work  and  practice  out  on  blue  water. 
We  all  owe  much  to  Admiral  Bunce. 

In  the  fall  of  1896  the  squadron  started  from  Fort 
ress  Monroe  for  New  York.  It  had  been  blowing  hard 
for  several  days,  and  the  admiral  considered  it  a  fit 
opportunity  to  test  the  sea-going  qualities  of  the  Indi 
ana,  and  particularly  the  strength  of  the  securing  de 
vices  on  her  turrets.  We  found  a  heavy  sea  running 
before  we  were  out  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  when  Cape 
Henry  light  was  abeam  I  signalled  that  all  my  eight- 
inch  turrets,  four  in  number,  were  adrift,  thinking  that 
the  admiral  would  direct  me  to  return  to  port  and 
secure  them.  On  the  contrary,  we  held  on  our  course, 
and  when  the  sun  went  down  these  turrets  were  se 
curely  lashed  so  that  they  could  give  no  further  trou 
ble;  but  the  sea  in  the  meantime  had  increased  very 
much,  and  the  thirteen-inch  turrets,  each  weighing  five 

398 


A  Terrific  Gale 

hundred  tons,  began  to  work  loose,  and  by  ten  o'clock 
had  destroyed  their  controlling  devices  and  were  free 
to  do  as  they  pleased.  The  after-turret  was  secured 
by  lashing  the  muzzles  of  the  guns  to  the  towing  bitts 
on  the  quarter-deck  with  hawsers.  There  was  no  great 
danger  in  this  work,  as  I  kept  the  ship  as  nearly  head 
to  sea  as  possible,  but  several  times  the  men  were 
almost  swept  overboard. 

At  midnight  the  gale  was  very  bad  and  the  sea 
coming  on  board  in  every  direction.  The  night  was 
as  black  as  a  pocket  and  the  rest  of  the  squadron 
out  of  sight  ahead.  I  had  been  forced  to  slow  down 
to  protect  the  men  and  officers  who  were  working 
on  the  forecastle  in  a  desperate  effort  to  secure  the 
forward  thirteen-inch  turret,  which  was  thrashing  from 
side  to  side  as  the  ship  rolled  and  pitched.  I  stood 
by  the  wheel  on  the  upper  bridge,  and  frequently 
the  whole  forward  end  of  her  would  go  under  water, 
men  and  all,  and  the  sea  would  come  up  until  I  could 
easily  have  put  my  foot  into  it.  At  such  times  I  held 
my  breath  as  the  water  rolled  off  and  the  black  heads 
of  the  officers  and  men,  one  after  another,  came  in 
sight;  I  fully  expected  to  see  them  swept  overboard 
by  the  dozen.  She  was  rolling  forty  degrees,  and  noth 
ing  I  could  do  seemed  to  ease  her.  The  sea  was  so 
irregular  that  I  could  not  keep  her  bows  on  to  it,  and 
the  night  so  pitch  dark  that  I  could  not  see  where  the 
heavy  seas  were  coming  from. 

At  i  A.  M.  the  ash-chutes  on  the  gun  deck  had 
their  covers  torn  off  and  the  deck  was  flooded,  and 
there  was  no  way  to  get  the  water  out  except  by 
bailing  with  buckets.  The  carpenter,  who  was  in  a 

399 


A  Sailor's  Log 

great  funk,  came  to  me  on  the  bridge,  white  in  the 
face,  and  reported  in  a  trembling  voice,  "  Sir,  the 
gun  deck  is  full  of  water,  and  I  can't  see  how  we 
are  ever  going  to  get  it  out! "  I  replied,  "  Go  down 
and  drink  some  of  it  out,  sir,  and  don't  bother  me 
again  with  your  whining!  "  which  sent  him  on  his 
way  and  I  saw  no  more  of  him.  By  the  almost  super 
human  efforts  of  the  executive  officer  and  the  offi 
cer  of  the  forward  turret,  assisted  by  one  hundred  or 
more  men,  the  thirteen-inch  guns  were  finally  lashed 
securely  to  the  eight-inch  turret  on  the  upper  deck,  and 
the  forward  turret  thus  secured.  The  work  required 
four  hours,  and  most  of  the  time  all  hands  engaged  in 
it  were  under  water.  In  the  meantime  the  lifeboats, 
which  were  hoisted  on  the  upper  deck  of  all,  were 
smashed  by  the  sea,  which  came  up  under  them  and 
stove  them  against  the  davit  heads.  By  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  we  had  everything  well  secured  and  the 
water  all  cleared  out,  so  that  I  felt  no  apprehension  for 
the  safety  of  the  ship.  Indeed,  I  had  felt  none  after 
the  first  few  heavy  rolls  she  made  with  her  gun  deck 
flooded;  then  I  did  feel  some  doubt  as  to  the  result. 
I  was  soon  satisfied  that  she  would  not  capsize,  and, 
later  on,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  she  could  do  any 
thing  but  climb  a  tree,  and  I  thought  she  would  do 
that  if  I  gave  her  half  a  chance. 

Between  midnight  and  four  in  the  morning  one 
of  the  young  officers  lost  his  leg  by  having  it  caught 
by  an  armoured  door  weighing  two  tons,  which,  un 
fortunately,  carried  away  its  fastenings  at  the  wrong 
moment  and  closed  just  when  the  young  man  was 
thrown  out  of  his  bunk  across  the  doorsill.  This  was 

400 


A  Cutter  Race 

the  only  serious  accident  we  had,  though  many  of  the 
men  were  somewhat  bruised.  I  was  glad  when  day 
light  put  an  end  to  one  of  the  worst  nights  I  ever  spent 
at  sea,  and  thankful  that  I  had  escaped  a  serious  dis 
aster.  The  officers  behaved,  as  they  always  do,  per 
fectly,  and  the  crew,  many  of  them  very  young  and  new 
at  the  business,  excited  my  warmest  admiration.  Not 
a  soul  on  board,  except  the  man  who  was  advised  to 
drink  salt  water,  showed  the  least  sign  of  fear  or  hesi 
tation.  I  certainly  had  a  crew  full  of  sand  up  to  their 
necks,  and  I  felt  like  hugging  every  man  Jack  of  them. 

We  landed  our  wounded  officer  in  New  York  the 
following  day,  and  then  went  to  the  navy  yard  for  re 
pairs.  I  was  told  that  the  ship  had  not  rolled  as  badly 
as  I  thought  she  had  by  those  who  imagined  that  they 
knew  many  things  which  they  really  only  guessed  at. 
The  fragments  of  the  various  gimcracks  which  had 
been  intended  to  hold  her  turrets  were  taken  out,  in 
many  cases  with  a  dustpan  and  broom,  and  new  and 
better  things  put  in.  We  were  getting  experience  in 
battle-ship  fittings,  but,  like  the  shrimp-catching,  it  was 
costly  and  dangerous. 

In  fitting  out  the  Indiana  I  was  careful  to  see  that 
she  had,  among  other  necessary  things,  a  twelve-oared 
cutter,  which  I  hoped  some  day  might  win  from  the 
cutter  of  the  New  York,  which  had  done  such  good 
work  at  Kiel.  I  was  careful  in  selecting  the  crew  for 
her,  and,  after  many  months  of  faithful  training,  the 
race  took  place  at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  distance 
pulled  was  six  miles,  in  a  rough  sea,  and  the  Victoria 
Louisa  had  to  lower  her  colours  to  Uncle  Sam,  the 
name  of  our  new  boat.  I  think  the  same  boats  pulled 

401 


A  Sailor's  Log 

several  races  after  I  gave  up  command,  and  honours 
were  about  even  between  them. 

While  refitting  in  New  York,  Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling 
breakfasted  on  board  with  me  and  seemed  much  inter 
ested,  particularly  in  the  machinery,  which  he  exam 
ined  very  closely.  Some  weeks  afterward  he  was  good 
enough  to  send  me  a  set  of  his  books.  On  the  title- 
page  of  Plain  Tales  from  the  Hills,  facing  a  beautiful 
picture  of  Sergeant  Mulvaney,  done  by  my  dear  friend 
R.  F.  Zogbaum,  he  had  written  the  following  graceful 
lines,  which  I  had  hoped  would  always  remain  my  per 
sonal  property.  But  some  one  stole  them  and  gave 
them  publicity.  For  that  reason  I  allow  myself  to  put 
them  in  this  book: 

"  Zogbaum  draws  with  a  pencil, 
And  I  do  things  with  a  pen  ; 
And  you  sit  up  in  a  conning  tower 
Bossing  eight  hundred  men. 

*'  Zogbaum  takes  care  of  his  business, 

And  I  take  care  of  mine ; 
And  you  take  care  of  ten  thousand  tons 
Sky-hooting  through  the  brine. 

"  Zogbaum  can  handle  his  shadows,1 

And  I  can  handle  my  style  ; 
And  you  can  handle  a  ten-inch  gun 
To  carry  seven  mile. 

"  *  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given,* 

And  that's  why  these  books  are  sent 
To  the  man  who  has  lived  more  stories 
Than  Zogbaum  or  I  could  invent." 

During  the  fall  of  1896  I  was  detached  from  the 
Indiana  and  once  more  ordered  to  duty  on  the  Light 
house  Board,  but  this  time  as  a  member  and  not  as 

402 


The  Personnel  Bill 

naval  secretary,  where  I  had  previously  served.  While 
on  this  duty  I  was  detailed  in  addition  as  a  member 
of  the  Personnel  Board,  which  Secretary  Long,  of 
the  navy,  had  ordered  to  consider  some  remedy  for 
the  controversy  which  existed  between  the  line  and 
engineer  officers  of  the  service.  The  board  was  com 
posed  of  leading  officers  of  the  two  corps,  and  ably 
presided  over  by  Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Assistant 
Secretary,  to  whom  more  than  any  other  man  belongs 
the  credit  for  the  remedy  applied  later  in  the  shape  of 
the  Naval  Personnel  Bill.  The  scheme  of  amalgama 
tion  embodied  in  that  bill  was  first  proposed  by  me, 
and  I  wish  to  assume  the  responsibility  which  attached 
to  my  act.  The  entire  board,  of  course,  voted  on  the 
proposition  and  approved  it  as  a  body. 


403 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

THE   APPROACH    OF   WAR 

IN  the  early  winter  of  1897  I  was  honoured  with  the 
confidence  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  was  frequently  con 
sulted  by  him  about  various  naval  matters.  He  saw 
clearly  the  approaching  storm  of  war,  and  knew  well 
how  unprepared  we  were  in  many  ways  to  meet  it,  and 
it  was  owing  to  his  strong  will  and  earnest  recom 
mendations  to  Mr.  Long  that  many  most  important 
steps  were  taken.  In  making  this  statement  I  detract 
nothing  from  the  wonderful  ability  shown  by  Mr. 
Long.  He  had  a  most  patriotic  and  painstaking  assist 
ant  in  solving  a  problem,  the  solution  of  which  has 
reflected  great  credit  on  the  country  for  all  time  to 
come. 

I  left  Washington  in  December,  1897,  to  make  a 
trip  of  inspection  of  all  the  light  stations  on  the  South 
Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  in  the  lighthouse  steamer 
Armeria.  At  Key  West,  Florida,  I  found  the  North 
Atlantic  fleet  under  command  of  Admiral  Sicard,  and 
it  was  plain  to  me  that  that  able  officer  expected  war 
with  Spain  and  was  doing  all  he  could  to  be  ready  for 
it  when  it  came.  The  day  before  we  sailed  from  the 
port  the  Maine  was  coaling  preparatory  to  her  visit  to 
Havana.  A  large  lighter  was  hauling  out  from  the 

404 


Effect  of  the  Maine  Disaster 

coal  dock  and  on  her  deck  were  a  number  of  her  men 
who  had  been  loading  the  coal,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  had  never  before  seen  a  finer-looking  lot  of  men. 
Among  them  was  an  old  shipmate  of  mine,  William 
Fuer,  a  boatswain's  mate,  who  had  served  with  me  in 
the  Yorktown,  and  as  he  stood  on  the  bows  of  the 
lighter,  directing  her  movements,  he  was  the  picture 
of  a  man-of-war's-man — strong,  handsome,  and  fearless. 
I  found  his  name  in  the  list  of  those  killed  that  awful 
night  in  Havana,  when,  whether  by  accident  or  design, 
Spain  sealed  her  fate  in  the  Western  world. 

A  few  weeks  later  I  was  in  New  Orleans,  Louisiana, 
where  I  had  been  enjoying  the  festivities  of  the  carnival 
season,  when  the  news  of  the  destruction  of  the  Maine 
shocked  the  civilized  world.  Men  of  all  classes  talked 
to  me  on  the  subject  and  asked  my  opinion,  and, 
though  I  had  a  very  decided  one,  I  expressed  none.  It 
seemed  to  me  the  time  of  all  others  for  a  man  in  my 
position  to  hold  his  tongue  and  prepare  for  the  serious 
work  I  felt  was  in  store  for  all  of  us.  I  begged  them  all 
to  await  quietly  the  finding  of  the  board  that  had  been 
ordered  to  investigate  the  whole  matter,  which  I  felt 
sure  would  be  painstaking  and  thorough.  But  I  could 
see,  from  the  set  faces  of  those  Southern  chaps,  and  the 
quiet,  determined  way  in  which  they  spoke,  that  some 
body  was  going  to  get  whipped  because  the  Maine  had 
been  blown  up.  When  I  had  visited  Galveston  and 
found  the  same  smouldering  volcano  there,  I  was 
strengthened  in  my  conviction  that  if  the  authorities 
then  in  power  did  not  declare  war,  they  would  be 
turned  out  and  others  put  in  who  would.  I  felt  that  if 
the  action  of  our  admiral  had  been  different — and  it 

27  405 


A  Sailor's  Log 

probably  would  have  been  had  he  been  younger  and 
not  so  sick — time  at  least  would  have  been  saved. 
If  he  had  gone  into  Havana  the  morning  after  the  dis 
aster  with  his  whole  fleet  and  said  to  General  Blanco 
that  he  had  come  to  find  out  why  these  American  offi 
cers  and  men,  the  guests  of  Spain,  had  been  foully  mur 
dered,  it  would,  in  my  opinion,  have  produced  imme 
diate  results  and  saved  much  time. 

About  the  middle  of  March  I  again  arrived  at  Key 
West  on  my  way  back  to  Washington,  and  was  struck 
with  the  weakness  of  our  fleet  in  the  way  of  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers  and  guard  boats.  If  war  should  sud 
denly  come,  and  it  looked  as  if  it  might  at  any  moment, 
an  enterprising  enemy,  with  the  Spanish  torpedo  ves 
sels  known  to  be  in  and  about  Cuba,  could  seriously 
damage  if  not  destroy  our  entire  force  in  a  single 
night.  I  hurried  on  to  Washington,  determined  to 
give  Mr.  Long  my  views  on  the  subject.  Fortunately, 
he  sent  for  me  the  day  of  my  arrival,  and,  having  heard 
patiently  and  with  deep  interest  what  I  had  to  say  to 
him,  at  once,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
proceeded  to  apply  the  only  possible  remedy.  He  or 
dered  the  purchase  of  a  number  of  fast  yachts  and  tugs 
in  New  York  and  other  ports  and  directed  that  they 
be  armed  with  all  despatch  and  hurried  off  to  Key 
West. 

While  I  stood  talking  with  him  he  gave  direc 
tions  to  detach  Admiral  Sicard,  who  was  condemned 
by  medical  survey,  from  command  of  the  squadron,  and 
order  Captain  Sampson  to  relieve  him.  Then,  turn 
ing  to  me,  he  said,  in  his  quiet,  forcible  way:  "  Now, 
captain,  I  have  a  surprise  for  you.  I  am  going  to  order 

406 


Preparing  for  War 

you  to  relieve  Sampson  in  command  of  the  Iowa.  How 
soon  can  you  start  ?"  I  had  only  arrived  in  the  city 
five  hours  before,  but  feeling  as  I  did  the  importance 
of  not  losing  time,  replied  that  I  could  leave  for  Key 
West  at  4  P.  M.  that  day,  which  I  did.  When  trouble 
with  Spain  first  threatened  I  had  asked  that  if  war 
came  I  might  be  ordered  to  command  the  St.  Paul  in 
case  she  was  taken  into  the  service.  I  was  therefore 
much  gratified  to  command  the  finest  battle  ship  in 
the  navy. 

I  arrived  at  Key  West  as  soon  as  steam  could  get 
me  there,  and  went  at  once  to  the  Iowa,  then  lying 
with  the  other  large  vessels  off  Sand  Key  light,  about 
eight  miles  from  the  town.  It  was  a  time  of  intense 
excitement.  We  all  felt  that  war  was  sure  to  come, 
and  we  were  anxious  to  have  it  done  with,  and  there 
fore  the  sooner  it  came  the  better.  That  we  were 
not  as  ready  for  it  as  we  should  have  been  was  not  our 
fault;  what  the  navy  itself  could  do  we  had  done,  and 
we  felt  confident  that  we  could  do  the  Spanish  fleet 
up  in  an  hour  if  it  would  come  out  in  the  open  sea 
and  give  us  a  chance,  but  we  knew  it  would  never 
do  that.  It  was  borne  in  upon  me  that  the  worst  use 
you  could  put  a  navy  to  was  fighting,  and  the  best, 
keeping  the  peace,  yet  we  were  about  to  be  driven  to 
the  former  because  our  naval  force  was  and  had  been 
too  small  for  the  latter. 

Admiral  Sampson  spared  neither  himself  nor  his 
officers  and  men  in  his  preparations  for  the  coming 
struggle — work  was  incessant  day  and  night.  Drills 
of  all  kinds  wrere  indulged  in,  but  target  firing  was  con 
sidered  the  most  important  one  of  all.  Day  by  day  we 

407 


A  Sailor's  Log 

wasted  Government  ammunition,  as  some  of  the  yellow 
newspapers  had  it,  and  no  end  of  targets  were  destroyed. 
Night  after  night  the  torpedo  boats  had  their  try  at 
us,  that  our  men  might  know  what  the  real  thing  would 
look  like  when  it  came.  Coal  bunkers  and  magazines 
were  kept  constantly  full,  as  well  as  bread  rooms  and 
storerooms.  In  the  meantime  the  admiral  constantly 
conferred  with  his  commanding  officers,  and  with  their 
assistance  drew  up  a  complete  plan  for  the  attack  and 
capture  of  the  city  and  defences  of  Havana.  Our  offi 
cers  who  had  been  in  Cuba  recently  knew  every  fort 
about  the  city  and  the  number  and  calibre  of  guns  in 
each,  and  with  this  information  in  our  hands,  we  knew 
just  what  we  had  to  meet. 

Sampson  believed,  and  we  agreed  with  him,  that 
the  thing  to  do,  as  soon  as  war  was  declared,  was  to 
strike  quick  and  strike  hard;  but  such  was  not  to  be 
our  good  fortune.  The  Secretary  thought  highly  of 
the  plans  which  were  submitted  to  him,  but,  for  reasons 
which  he  no  doubt  considered  convincing,  decided 
against  them,  in  favour  of  a  close  blockade.  I  have 
always  thought  that  we  could  have  captured  or  de 
stroyed  Havana  two  days  after  the  declaration  of  war, 
and  it  is  my  belief  that  this  of  itself  would  have  ended 
the  struggle  in  a  very  short  time,  and  that  Cervera's 
fleet  would  not  have  crossed  the  Atlantic.  I  make 
this  statement  with  a  full  knowledge  of  what  we  had 
to  encounter  and  after  close  study  of  the  situation, 
which  afterward  changed  very  rapidly  and  was  entirely 
different  when  General  Blanco  had  strongly  fortified 
the  entrance. 

In  the  early  days  of  April  the  newly  purchased 
408 


A  Base  Wanted 

yachts  and  tugs  began  to  arrive  at  Key  West,  and  it 
would  have  been  amusing,  if  the  matter  had  been  less 
serious,  to  see  the  value  placed  on  these  improvised 
guard  boats.  It  was  simply  because  we  had  no  tor 
pedo-boat  destroyers,  and  officers  of  experience  knew 
the  danger  of  attack  from  the  coast  of  Cuba.  So  these 
new  arrivals  were  put  to  work  at  once,  some  of  them 
on  guard  duty  at  night  and  others  towing  stores  and 
coal  from  Key  West,  eight  miles  away,  to  the  fighting 
ships,  which  were  anchored  in  the  open  sea  off  Sand 
Key  light.  As  a  base  of  supplies,  in  a  military  sense, 
Key  West  was  at  this  time  an  absolute  and  utter  failure, 
because  we  had  no  supplies  for  war,  either  there  or  any 
where  else,  and  the  necessary  shops  and  machines  were 
not  on  hand.  A  few  officers  were  working  their  hearts 
out  over  the  same  old  impossible  scheme  of  boring  a 
two-inch  hole  with  a  one-inch  auger,  only  in  this  case 
the  auger  seemed  to  all  of  us  like  a  very  small  gimlet. 
However,  we  did  manage  somehow  to  keep  the  ships  in 
a  fair  state  of  preparation,  and  as  the  days  went  by  we 
felt  that  the  important  thing  of  all — our  men — was 
most  satisfactory.  They  were  as  fit  and  ready  as  men 
ever  were,  or  could  be,  and  only  waited  the  chance  to 
prove  it  to  the  country  and  the  world. 


409 


CHAPTER    XXXV 

THE   HAVANA   fcLOCKAtDE 

THE  tension  grew  greater  and  the  excitement  and 
strain  harder  to  bear  as  the  month  advanced,  until  the 
2Oth  of  April  came,  when  we  knew  from  the  Washing 
ton  despatches  that  the  critical  moment  had  arrived. 
During  the  evening  of  the  2ist  all  the  commanding 
officers  of  the  outside  fleet  were  summoned  on  board 
the  flagship  for  consultation,  and  there  we  remained 
until  nearly  midnight,  waiting  for  the  message  we  felt 
sure  must  come  before  daylight.  Some  of  us  prepared 
to  return  to  our  vessels  about  ten  o'clock,  but  Sampson 
requested  us  to  remain.  So  over  our  fresh  cigars  we 
sat  and  listened  to  the  quiet  words  of  our  clear-headed 
commander,  while  the  wind  howled  and  the  ship 
pitched  and  rolled  in  the  choppy  sea.  Just  before  mid 
night  a  naval  cadet  came  to  the  cabin  and  reported  a 
torpedo  boat  coming  out  at  high  speed,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  a  staff  officer  handed  the  admiral  a  telegram 
from  President  McKinley,  which  he  immediately  read 
to  his  assembled  commanders.  It  said:  "War  de 
clared;  proceed  to  blockade  the  coast  of  Cuba,"  etc., 
etc. — Then,  with  serious,  thoughtful  faces,  we  said 
good-night  to  the  admiral  and  each  other,  and  returned 

410 


Off  for  Cuba 

to  our  ships.  The  expected  had  happened  this  time 
at  least. 

When  I  reached  the  Iowa,  about  midnight,  all  of 
the  officers  and  most  of  the  crew  were  on  deck  wait 
ing  to  hear  the  news.  I  told  them  in  a  few  words,  and 
for  half  an  hour  I  could  hear  the  low  hum  of  conversa 
tion  among  the  men,  then  perfect  silence  fore  and  aft. 
The  signal  lights  of  the  New  York  glinted  and  winked 
as  the  signal  officers  transmitted  the  order  to  be  ready 
to  get  under  way  at  daylight.  The  assistant  chief  of 
staff  was  sent  into  the  inner  harbour  with  orders  for 
the  vessels  assembled  there  to  come  out  as  fast  as  pos 
sible,  and  by  one  o'clock  they  began  to  appear.  I  say 
they  began  to  appear,  but  in  reality  we  could  only  see 
the  long,  ghostlike  beams  of  their  search  lights  as  they 
felt  about  for  the  buoys  of  the  difficult  channel.  Be 
fore  daylight  every  vessel  of  the  fleet  was  under  way, 
formed  in  double  column,  and  headed  for  the  coast  of 
Cuba.  In  less  than  four  hours  from  the  receipt  of  the 
order  the  navy  showed  its  state  of  readiness  by  actually 
starting  for  the  enemy's  coast.  Fortunately  for  the 
country,  we  were  in  much  better  shape  than  the  people 
thought  we  were. 

Everything  was  done  to  the  ships  in  the  way  of  pro 
tection  that  careful  thought  and  long  experience  could 
suggest.  Those  of  us  who  had  been  in  battle  before 
were  aware  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  shot  and  shell — how 
they  were  apt  to  strike  just  in  the  spot  where  they 
were  most  unwelcome — and  we  therefore  protected  the 
soft  places  with  such  material  as  came  to  hand.  I  had 
taken  on  board  the  Iowa  many  tons  of  sand  in  bags,  and 
these  I  had  used  where  I  thought  they  would  do  the 

411 


A  Sailor's  Log 

most  good.  I  had  also  unshackled  our  heavy  sheet- 
anchor  chains  and  wound  them  carefully  around  the 
exposed  ammunition  hoists,  a  job  that  took  over  a  week 
of  as  hard  work  as  I  ever  saw  men  do.  In  a  word, 
everything  had  been  done  to  make  the  ships  ready  for 
the  ordeal  they  had  to  face. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  22d,  as  we 
were  standing  on  our  course  for  Havana,  a  steamer  was 
made  out  to  the  westward  heading  toward  us  with  the 
Spanish  flag  flying.  The  Nashville  was  signalled  to 
capture  her,  and  in  a  few  minutes  that  vessel  had  fired 
the  first  gun  of  the  war  and  had  taken  the  first  prize. 
In  the  late  afternoon  the  land  about  Havana  was  made 
out  in  the  distance,  and  every  preparation  was  made  for 
battle  in  case  the  enemy  fired  on  us.  Shortly  after  we 
sighted  the  land,  a  vessel  was  seen  well  inshore  at 
tempting  to  escape  to  the  eastward,  and  the  New  York 
left  her  place  in  column  and  gave  chase,  at  the  same 
time  flying  the  signal,  "  Disregard  movements  of  the 
commander  in  chief!  " 

I,  as  next  in  rank  to  Sampson,  hoisted  the  guide 
flag,  and,  as  senior  officer  present,  held  the  fleet  to  its 
course  direct  for  the  Morro  Castle  at  the  entrance  to 
the  harbour  of  Havana.  The  New  York  soon  ran  out 
of  sight,  and  I  saw  nothing  more  of  her  until  about  two 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  when  she  rejoined,  having 
in  the  meantime  captured  the  Spanish  steamer  Pedro 
and  sent  her  into  Key  West  with  a  prize  crew.  When 
we  could  make  out  clearly  the  lighthouse  on  the 
Morro,  I  formed  the  fleet  in  double  column,  with  the 
lighter  vessel  double  distance  to  the  left,  in  order  to 
bring  them  closer  to  the  shore  after  I  had  established 

412 


Blockade  Established 

the  blockade,  and  in  this  order  continued  on  my 
course  with  all  hands  at  the  guns  ready  to  return  any 
fire  that  we  might  receive.  We  had  orders  not  to 
bring  on  an  engagement,  but  I  did  not  consider  that 
this  order  would  apply  in  case  the  Spaniards  fired  on 
us.  When  the  Iowa  was  about  five  miles  from  the 
Morro  Castle,  I  made  signal,  "Head  of  columns  right!" 
and,  as  the  signal  went  up,  I  saw  the  flash  of  a  gun  on 
shore,  and  then  others,  until  five  had  been  fired.  I  gave 
the  order  to  stand  by  to  fire,  and  cautioned  those  about 
me  to  watch  carefully  for  the  splash  of  a  shot;  but,  un 
fortunately,  none  came;  they  were  only  signal  guns  to 
announce  our  arrival.  I  continued  on  my  way  and  es 
tablished  the  blockade,  and  night  settled  down.  Gener 
al  Blanco  and  the  city  of  Havana  were  in  a  grip  that  was 
to  make  them  very  tired  and  hungry  before  it  relaxed. 
Our  first  night  on  the  blockade  was  very  exciting 
work.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  the  Spaniards 
would  attempt  something  in  the  way  of  a  torpedo  at 
tack  that  night.  It  was  the  logical  thing  for  them  to 
do,  and  it  is  possible  that  they  might  have  met  with 
some  success  if  they  had  been  bold  and  daring.  I  was 
on  the  bridge  during  the  entire  night,  and  if  I  saw  one 
torpedo  boat  I  saw  a  thousand!  Every  breaking  sea 
was  to  my  imagination  a  torpedo  boat.  I  had  the  fleet 
standing  to  the  westward  toward  Mariel,  and  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  it  became  necessary  to  turn 
about  and  cruise  slowly  back  toward  the  Morro.  The 
night  was  intensely  dark,  and  not  a  sound  could  be 
heard  or  a  ship  seen  in  any  direction.  As  I  made  the 
preparatory  signal  from  the  bridge  of  the  Iowa  the  an 
swering  lights  flashed  out,  and  there  they  were,  the 

413 


A  Sailor's  Log 

whole  fleet  in  two  long  lines,  as  if  tied  on  strings.  They 
turned  promptly  at  the  signal  and  stood  back  in  the 
direction  indicated.  Between  two  and  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning  the  New  York  rejoined,  and  the  responsi 
bility  of  command  passed  to  the  able  shoulders  where 
it  belonged. 

For  ten  days  the  Iowa,  in  common  with  the  others, 
rolled  and  pitched  in  the  trade-wind  seas,  watching  the 
Spanish  army,  while  new  forts  were  built  and  new  guns 
placed  in  position.  At  night  we  hauled  off  a  few  miles, 
so  that  our  torpedo  boats  and  guard  vessels  could  have 
a  fair  chance  at  anything  that  came  out.  About  day 
light  in  the  morning  I  steamed  in  and  took  my  place  in 
plain  sight  of  the  city  and  within  easy  range  of  the  bat 
teries,  if  any  one  wanted  to  try  a  shot  at  me;  but  the 
shot  never  came.  It  would  not  have  been  wise  on  the 
part  of  General  Blanco  to  provoke  the  fire  of  the  battle 
ships  with  their  twelve-  and  thirteen-inch  guns. 

One  afternoon,  just  before  sundown,  I  saw  with  my 
glass  two  very  trim-looking  Spanish  gunboats  coming 
out  of  the  harbour.  They  turned  to  the  east  and 
steamed  along  close  to  the  shore,  evidently  much  ad 
mired  by  the  great  mass  of  people  I  could  see  crowding 
the  docks  on  the  water  front.  After  a  short  time  the 
little  chaps  turned  and  steamed  to  the  west  toward 
Mariel.  I  signalled  Mackenzie,  who  was  near  me  in 
the  Mayflower,  to  stand  by  to  chase  and  at  the  same 
time  gave  orders  to  bottle  up  steam  on  the  Iowa. 
When  I  thought  there  was  a  chance  to  cut  them  off, 
I  made  the  signal  to  chase,  and  headed  straight  for  the 
entrance  at  full  speed.  Mackenzie  dashed  in  like  a 
shot  off  a  shovel,  and  for  a  few  moments  it  looked  as  if 

414 


Ordered  to  Puerto  Rico 

we  might  nab  them,  but  they  saw  us  the  moment  we 
started  and  put  for  home  with  all  the  speed  they  could 
make.  When  they  entered  the  harbour  I  could  no 
doubt  have  reached  them  with  my  heavy  guns,  but 
they  were  not  of  much  consequence,  and  I  did  not 
fancy  the  idea  of  sending  a  shell  into  the  mass  of 
women  and  children  on  shore.  We  were  within  easy 
range  of  the  forts,  and  I  did  hope  that  they  would  give 
us  a  chance  to  pay  our  respects  to  them,  but  they  re 
mained  quiet,  though  we  could  see  the  men  about  the 
guns.  The  gunboats  never  came  out  again  while  I 
remained  on  the  Havana  blockade. 

During  the  early  days  of  May  I  ran  over  to  Key 
West,  filled  up  with  coal,  and  was  back  at  my  station 
during  the  night.  The  following  morning  at  daylight 
I  made  out  a  tugboat  coming  out  from  the  land  with 
the  signal  flying,  "  Send  a  boat!  "  which  was  unusual  if 
not  cheeky.  I  examined  her  carefully  with  my  glasses 
and  discovered  an  officer  on  board  in  cavalry  uniform. 
It  turned  out  to  be  Colonel  Dorst,  of  the  United  States 
army.  He  had  landed  some  Cubans  and  a  company  of 
our  men  during  the  night,  but  the  Spaniards  had  sur 
rounded  them,  and  the  colonel  explained  to  me  that  un 
less  I  went  to  their  assistance  his  men  would  probably 
be  killed  or  captured.  While  I  was  talking  with  him,  the 
New  York  came  in  sight,  steaming  very  fast,  with  the 
signal  flying,  "  Iowa  steer  east  by  south,  speed  eleven 
knots!  "  I  told  Dorst  that  Sampson  would  no  doubt 
send  a  gunboat  to  look  after  his  party,  which  he  did, 
and  I  started  immediately  in  obedience  to  the  signal, 
which  I  knew  meant  business  of  some  sort.  It  was  the 
starting  of  the  expedition  to  San  Juan,  Puerto  Rico. 

415 


CHAPTER    XXXVI 

THE   CRUISE   TO    SAN   JUAN 

THE  Iowa,  Indiana,  and  New  York  ran  all  day  to 
the  eastward,  and  at  sundown  that  evening  met  the 
other  vessels  that  had  been  directed  to  rendezvous  off 
Cruz  del  Padre  light  on  the  north  coast  of  Cuba. 
News  had  come  from  Washington  that  Admiral  Cer- 
vera  had  sailed  with  the  Spanish  fleet  from  the  Cape  de 
Verde  Islands,  and  it  was  plain  to  all  of  us  that  Samp 
son's  fleet  should  be  well  to  the  eastward  to  meet  him 
if  he  attempted  to  pass  through  the  West  Indies,  either 
to  threaten  our  coast  or  enter  a  port  on  the  north  side 
of  Cuba.  The  natural  place  for  him  to  go  to  recoal 
and  repair  his  ships  was  San  Juan,  Puerto  Rico,  where 
there  were  stores  and  machine  shops,  and  Sampson 
had  every  reason  to  expect  to  find  him  there.  It 
turned  out  afterward  that  Cervera  was  bound  for  San 
Juan,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  unexpectedly  low 
speed  of  his  torpedo  boats  we  should  have  found  him 
there  on  May  I2th.  As  it  was,  he  received  the  news 
of  the  bombardment  of  San  Juan  when  off  Martinique 
and  shaped  his  course  for  Curaqoa,  and  thus  escaped. 
We  all  thought  that  we  had  given  him  ample  time  to 
reach  his  destination.  Twelve  hours  more  and  we 

416 


Arrival  at  San  Juan 

should  have  trapped  him  at  San  Juan  instead  of  at 
Santiago. 

When  we  reached  the  appointed  rendezvous,  late 
in  the  evening,  we  found  there,  among  other  ships,  two 
monitors — the  Terror  and  the  Amphitrite.  As  they 
could  not  carry  coal  enough  to  steam  to  our  destina 
tion,  they  were  taken  in  tow.  I  was  directed  to  tow 
the  Amphitrite  with  the  Iowa.  The  sea  was  very 
smooth,  and  we  were  soon  pulling  her  along  at  nine 
knots,  but  before  the  job  was  finished  I  wished  I  had 
never  seen  a  monitor.  When  once  out  from  under 
the  protection  of  the  shoals  the  sea  began  to  rise,  and 
soon  everything  in  the  way  of  towlines  had  been  parted, 
and  it  was  only  when  we  slowed  down  to  seven  knots 
or  less  that  we  could  make  anything  hold.  We  found 
ourselves  in  the  open  sea  looking  for  an  enemy  who 
could  steam  at  the  speed  of  sixteen  to  eighteen  knots 
while  we  could  barely  maintain  seven.  The  prospect 
of  catching  him  was  not  very  bright.  However,  we 
were  doing  our  best  with  the  tools  the  Government  had 
given  us  to  work  with.  After  many  vexatious  delays, 
we  arrived  off  the  north  coast  of  Puerto  Rico  on  the 
afternoon  of  May  nth,  and  at  sundown  Admiral  Samp 
son  transferred  his  flag  to  the  Iowa  and  notified 
me  that  I  should  have  the  honour  of  leading  in  the 
battle  which  we  hoped  would  be  fought  the  follow 
ing  day. 

At  daylight  on  May  I2th  the  high  land  and  forts 
about  San  Juan  could  be  dimly  seen.  The  fleet  was  in 
battle  order  and  every  ship  ready  to  open  fire.  Slowly 
the  Iowa  steamed  in  until  she  was  fairly  within  range  of 
all  the  guns,  when  I  stopped  the  engines  and  waited 

417 


A  Sailor's  Log 

until  we  could  see  clearly  everything  in  the  harbour. 
The  forts,  as  well  as  the  city,  seemed  to  be  sleeping 
soundly,  and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  the 
Spaniards  expected  or  suspected  our  unfriendly  visit. 
Our  glasses  soon  disclosed  the  fact  that  Cervera  was 
not  there. 

To  give  our  men  practice  and  season  them  a  bit 
for  what  was  to  come,  Admiral  Sampson  decided  to 
bombard  the  batteries.  I  was  standing  by  him  on 
the  bridge  when  he  gave  me  permission  to  open  fire. 
I  stepped  to  the  nearest  six-pounder  and  ordered  the 
captain  of  the  gun  to  fire  at  the  lighthouse  tower 
with  an  elevation  of  twenty-six  hundred  yards,  which 
he  did,  and  I  saw  the  shell  explode  near  the  base  of  the 
tower.  I  then  gave  the  range  to  the  whole  battery  as 
twenty-five  hundred  yards,  with  directions  to  fire  at  the 
Morro  fort,  and  immediately  ordered  the  bugler  at  my 
elbow  to  sound  "  Commence  firing!  "  In  a  few  seconds 
the  whole  starboard  battery  was  firing  rapidly,  and,  as 
the  Indiana  and  other  ships  astern  of  us  took  it  up,  the 
roar  became  deafening.  It  was  fully  five  minutes  after 
we  opened  before  any  reply  came  from  the  shore,  and 
during  this  time  I  could  see  the  shells  bursting  and 
kicking  up  great  clouds  of  dust  and  smoke  as  they 
struck  or  exploded  in  and  about  the  batteries.  Finally, 
when  we  were  about  one  thousand  yards  from  the 
Morro  fort,  a  battery  well  back  on  the  hill  opened  fire 
and  several  shells  passed  over  us.  I  at  once  directed 
our  guns  on  this  battery,  which  did  not  respond  so 
long  as  we  were  firing  at  them.  In  the  meantime 
many  other  guns  had  opened  on  us,  but  those  of  the 
Morro  fort  remained  silent,  until  two  hours  later,  when 

418 


A  Bombardment 

we  were  hauling  off.     Our  fire  had  been  so  severe  that 
this  particular  fort  could  not  respond. 

In  order  to  define  our  firing  line,  the  admiral  had 
ordered  a  boat  anchored  off  the  entrance  to  the  har 
bour  on  the  edge  of  the  shoal  to  mark  the  point  where 
we  were  to  begin,  and  the  Detroit  was  sent  in  to  a 
point  about  eight  hundred  yards  from  the  batteries 
to  mark  the  edge  of  the  shoal  at  that  point,  and  be 
tween  these  two  we  were  to  steam,  turning  out  as 
we  passed  close  to  the  latter  and  coming  on  to  the 
firing  line  again  as  we  approached  the  former.  Thus 
the  fleet  was  to  move  in  an  ellipse  until  the  signal 
to  draw  off  was  given.  As  we  approached  the  Detroit 
for  the  first  time  the  smoke  was  blinding,  as  there 
was  no  wind  to  blow  it  away.  I  ordered  the  rapid- 
fire  guns  to  cease  firing  and  continue  to  use  the  guns 
of  the  main  battery,  which  eased  the  situation  at  once, 
and,  as  the  smoke  cleared,  the  sight  was  one  long 
to  be  remembered.  The  Spanish  batteries  were  all 
paying  more  or  less  attention  to  the  Detroit,  and  the 
shells  were  cutting  the  water  up  all  about  her  and 
bursting  over  her.  Captain  Dayton,  who  commanded 
her,  was  handling  her  beautifully,  and  her  crew  was 
making  her  five-inch  rapid-fire  guns  roar  and  blaze. 
She  was  simply  magnificent,  a  veritable  spitfire.  After 
we  had  passed  over  the  firing  line  the  second  time 
she  was  signalled  to  change  her  position  and  draw 
off  somewhat,  but  Dayton  took  a  long  time  to  answer 
the  signal,  and  withdrew  with  great  reluctance.  We 
were  much  relieved  when  he  signalled  that  he  had 
escaped  without  injury.  If  I  had  had  the  power  I 
would  have  changed  the  name  of  the  Detroit  that 

419 


A  Sailor's  Log 

morning;  I  would  have  painted  "  Gamecock  "  on  her 
stern,  and  kept  it  there  as  long  as  she  remained  afloat. 
When  the  Iowa  turned  from  the  firing  line  for 
the  second  time,  the  Spanish  fire  became  very  steady 
and  accurate.  For  a  few  minutes,  until  the  Indiana 
and  New  York  got  to  work  on  them,  it  was  the  best 
shooting  I  saw  the  Spanish  artillery  do  during  the  war. 
Just  after  we  turned  and  were  steaming  away  from 
them  I  heard  a  shell  coming,  and  an  instant  afterward  it 
came  into  our  upper  deck  and  exploded  with  a  sharp 
ringing  report.  The  projectile,  a  Krupp  armour 
piercer,  passed  through  a  steel  beam  and  exploded 
under  the  boats,  knocking  the  bottoms  out  of  two  of 
them  and  badly  wrecking  the  third.  The  deck  was 
filled  with  smoke,  and  I  expected  to  find  serious  loss  of 
life  when  it  cleared  up.  The  men  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  or  more  were  standing  about  in  groups  watch 
ing  the  fight  when  the  smoke  hid  them  from  view. 
Many  of  them  had  their  caps  blown  off  by  the  explo 
sion,  and,  as  the  smoke  blew  away,  they  were  laughing 
and  joking  while  they  brushed  the  dust  from  their 
clothes.  Everything  about  the  deck  was  ripped  and 
torn  by  fragments  of  the  shell,  but  not  a  man  was  even 
scratched.  The  bottom  of  the  sailing  launch  was  badly 
wrecked,  and  a  large  fragment  of  shell  completely  de 
stroyed  the  boat  box,  which  contained  an  outfit  of  vari 
ous  articles.  The  small  American  flag  belonging  to 
the  boat  was  blown  out  of  the  box  and  spread  on  the 
rail,  it  being  the  only  thing  left.  It  was  not  damaged 
in  the  least.  I  afterward  gave  it  to  President  McKin- 
ley  as  a  souvenir  of  the  fight.  Two  more  shells  came  in 
rapid  succession,  and  both  exploded  in  the  superstruc- 

420 


A  Lesson  under  Fire 

ture.  They  were  perfectly  placed  and  showed  that  the 
enemy  had  our  range  accurately.  Three  men  were 
wounded  by  the  second,  these  being  my  only  casualties 
during  the  day.  We  were  much  cut  up  and  marked 
about  the  upper  works,  but  no  serious  damage  was 
done.  The  escape  of  our  men  was  simply  marvellous. 

As  we  made  the  third  round  on  the  firing  line,  the 
return  fire  from  the  batteries  was  very  weak,  and  it 
was  plain  to  me  that  the  city  could  be  captured  if  we 
continued  our  bombardment  a  few  hours  longer.  I 
counted  nine  places  where  fire  had  broken  out  on  shore 
as  the  result  of  our  exploding  shells,  and  I  felt  sure  that 
if  we  turned  our  guns  on  the  city  we  could  compel 
its  surrender  or  destroy  it  in  a  short  time.  So  far  the 
only  damage  to  the  town  was  caused  by  a  few  wild 
shots  due  to  the  rolling  of  the  ships  in  the  trade  swell. 
There  had  been  no  orders  to  fire  at  anything  except 
the  batteries,  but,  as  they  were  very  close  to  the  town, 
some  damage  was  unavoidably  done  to  it.  After  we 
had  been  in  action  about  two  hours  and  a  half,  signal 
was  made  to  withdraw;  and  as  the  fleet  passed  out  of 
and  beyond  the  range  of  the  enemy's  guns,  Spanish 
flags  were  hoisted  on  all  the  forts  and  a  furious  but 
harmless  fire  kept  up  as  long  as  we  could  see  them. 

Our  men  had  received  just  what  they  most  needed 
— practical  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  it  required  a 
great  many  shots  to  seriously  injure  a  modern  ship,  and 
that  every  shell  fired  was  not  going  to  kill  each  indi 
vidual  man  who  heard  it  screaming  over  his  head.  Our 
experience  that  morning  was  of  immense  value  to  all 
hands,  but  particularly  to  those  who  were  under  fire  for 
the  first  time.  If  we  had  had  sufficient  force  to  hold 
28  421 


A  Sailor's  Log 

San  Juan,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  taken  that 
day;  but  such  was  not  the  case,  and  we  could  not  wait 
for  the  arrival  of  troops,  even  if  they  had  been  available 
for  the  purpose.  Admiral  Cervera  was  somewhere  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  it  was  our  business  to  get  between 
him  and  our  base  of  supplies  at  Key  West  as  soon  as 
possible.  We  knew  that  we  had  no  time  to  spare,  and 
I,  as  well  as  other  commanding  officers,  advised  Admiral 
Sampson  to  get  to  the  westward  with  all  possible  de 
spatch. 


422 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 

WITH    THE    FLYING   SQUADRON 

AFTER  dark  on  the  I2th  of  May  I  took  my  monitor 
in  tow  and  we  began  our  vexatious  return  trip  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Admiral  Sampson  was  convinced 
that  the  Spanish  fleet  would  make  for  Santiago  or 
Havana,  with  chances  in  favour  of  the  former  place. 
When  we  had  arrived  off  the  north  coast  of  Hayti  a 
torpedo  boat  brought  the  news  that  they  were  at  Cura- 
<^oa,  and  shortly  afterward  I  was  left  in  command  of  the 
fleet,  with  orders  to  get  the  ships  to  their  various  sta 
tions  on  the  blockade  as  rapidly  as  possible,  while  the 
flagship  hurried  on  to  Key  West  with  all  speed.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  monitors  the  problem  would  have 
been  easy  to  solve,  but  with  them  to  tow,  and  all  hands 
short  of  coal,  it  was  most  difficult. 

During  the  afternoon  of  May  I7th,  as  we  were  pass 
ing  in  sight  of  Manzanillo  lighthouse,  I  discovered  two 
Spanish  gunboats  close  inshore,  evidently  making  for 
Nuevitas.  As  I  could  not  go  after  them  myself  with 
out  casting  off  my  monitor,  and  thus  losing  valuable 
time,  I  made  signal  to  the  Montgomery,  Commander 
Converse  commanding,  to  give  chase.  The  way  he 
made  those  two  gunboats  hunt  a  hole  was  beautiful 
to  see.  They  disappeared  behind  the  land,  and  to  my 

423 


A  Sailor's  Log 

great  concern  Converse  did  the  same  in  hot  pursuit. 
After  a  few  minutes  I  saw  him  open  fire  with  one  bat 
tery  and  then  with  both,  firing  very  rapidly.  Fearing 
that  he  was  in  trouble,  I  signalled  the  Indiana,  Captain 
Taylor,  to  go  to  his  assistance.  As  the  battle  ship 
turned  out  of  column  to  obey  the  signal,  the  Mont 
gomery  came  out  of  the  narrow  channel  stern  first  at 
full  speed,  having  been  handled  from  first  to  last  in 
the  most  gallant  and  seamanlike  way.  I  called  Con 
verse  within  hail  and  told  him  what  I  thought  of  him 
and  his  crew. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  as  we  were  enter 
ing  the  Bahama  Channel,  during  a  vicious  black  rain 
squall,  the  keen-eyed  lookouts  of  the  Iowa  made  out  a 
torpedo  boat  coming  toward  us  at  top  speed.  She 
soon  made  her  night  signal  and  proved  to  be  the  Du- 
pont,  with  Commander  Kimball,  commanding  the  tor 
pedo  flotilla.  He  had  orders  for  me  to  cast  off  my 
monitor  and  get  to  Key  West  as  soon  as  steam  could 
take  me  there,  as  there  was  important  work  for  my  ship 
to  do.  I  cast  off  the  Amphitrite,  signalled  the  Mont 
gomery  to  take  her  in  tow,  and  Captain  Taylor  to  as 
sume  command  of  the  squadron,  and  went  below  to 
my  cabin  with  Kimball  to  read  the  despatches  which 
he  had  in  his  hand. 

We  seated  ourselves  at  the  cabin  table  and  I  was 
deeply  interested  in  Cervera's  movements,  when  I  heard 
a  startled  voice  exclaim,  "  Look-out,  captain! "  I 
threw  my  head  to  one  side  to  see  what  I  was  to  look 
out  for,  when  there  was  a  tremendous  crash  and  I 
was  aware  that  I  was  hurt  and  more  or  less  dazed. 
My  first  impression  was  that  one  of  the  Spanish  gun- 

424 


A  Singular  Accident 

boats  had  sneaked  up  on  us  and  put  a  shell  into  my 
cabin.  I  had  been  thinking  all  the  afternoon  what 
a  fine  chance  it  would  be  for  them  that  night;  but 
when  I  was  really  conscious  I  saw  that  that  was  not  the 
trouble.  My  cabin  was  full  of  men,  all  staring  at  me, 
their  eyes  fairly  sticking  out  of  their  heads.  They 
thought  I  was  killed,  and  wanted  to  see  the  last  of  the 
"  old  man."  I  was  soon  aware  that  one  of  the  doctors 
was  feeling  and  twisting  my  right  arm  and  that  my 
right  shoulder  was  in  pretty  bad  shape.  Through  it 
all  I  was  very  sorry  for  Kimball,  who,  I  thought,  was 
surely  killed,  and  I  was  greatly  relieved  when  I  heard 
his  voice,  which  sounded  a  mile  away. 

The  accident  was  soon  explained.  The  men  were 
running  in  the  steel  hawser,  which  we  had  been  using 
to  tow  the  monitor,  and  it  had  picked  up  the  steel  battle 
hatch,  weighing  something  over  four  hundred  pounds, 
which  was  lying  on  deck  ready  to  be  put  on  the  cabin 
hatch  when  needed.  The  line  had  carried  it  along  until 
it  came  directly  over  the  hatch  under  which  I  was  sit 
ting,  when  it  slipped  off,  came  down  edge  first,  and 
caught  me  on  the  shoulder  instead  of  the  head.  The 
man  who  called  to  me  to  look  out  held  on  to  it  in  his 
effort  to  stop  it,  and  came  down  with  it.  My  shoulder 
was  badly  mashed  and  dislocated,  but  the  excellent 
medical  men  soon  wiped  the  blood  off,  reduced  the  dis 
location,  bandaged  my  arm  to  my  side,  and  turned  me 
in  with  a  stiff  glass  of  grog  under  my  belt.  The  only 
serious  damage  was  to  the  cabin  table,  which  was  no 
longer  fit  for  use.  If  my  head  had  been  four  inches 
farther  forward,  I  should  never  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  writing  this  book. 

425 


A  Sailor's  Log 

The  Iowa  arrived  at  Key  West  after  sundown  May 
1 8th  and  anchored  near  the  flagship  New  York.  The 
flying  squadron,  Commodore  Schley  commanding,  was 
at  anchor  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Coal  and  ammu 
nition  lighters  were  brought  alongside  at  once,  and  all 
night  long  my  willing  men  shovelled  away  and  stowed 
bread  and  powder.  Sampson  came  on  board  to  see  me 
and  urged  me  to  my  best  efforts,  as  he  wished  the  Iowa 
ready  at  the  first  possible  moment  to  join  Schley. 
Early  on  the  igth  the  flying  squadron  sailed  for  Cien- 
fuegos  and  my  men  tugged  away  at  the  coal  whips, 
scarcely  taking  time  to  eat.  During  the  night  of  the 
i  Qth  it  was  very  rough,  and  by  daylight  officers  and 
men  were  about  worn  out,  but  with  a  rest  of  only  an 
hour  we  went  at  it  again,  determined  to  do  all  that 
men  could  do  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  our  commander 
in  chief. 

At  eleven  o'clock  Sampson  signalled  me,  "  You 
must  go  now,  cast  off  lighters,  show  yourself  off 
Havana  before  sundown,  and  then  proceed  with  all 
possible  despatch  to  Cienfuegos  and  report  to  Com 
modore  Schley."  At  the  same  time  he  sent  my  written 
orders  and  official  mail  for  the  commander  of  the  flying 
squadron.  In  ten  minutes  I  was  under  way  and  stand 
ing  out  to  sea  with  my  decks  piled  waist-high  with 
boxes  of  provisions  and  ammunition,  while  the  whole 
ship  was  black  with  coal  dust,  and  the  officers  and  men 
looked  like  a  gang  of  chimney-sweeps.  Just  as  the 
sun  was  setting  I  slowed  and  stopped  my  engines  about 
two  miles  from  the  Morro  lighthouse,  and  remained  in 
that  position  until  it  was  fairly  dark,  when  I  rang  the 
engines  full  speed  ahead,  and  at  twelve  knots  speed 

426 


The  Flying  Squadron 

steered  my  course  for  Cape  San  Antonio  at  the  west 
end  of  Cuba. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  following  day,  when  nearly 
up  with  the  cape,  I  found  the  torpedo  boat  Dupont 
thrashing  about  in  the  heavy  sea  and  her  command 
ing  officer  unable  to  make  out  his  position.  I  gave 
him  his  bearings,  and  he  was  off  at  once  to  deliver  his 
orders  to  Commodore  Schley.  We  had  no  despatch 
boats,  properly  speaking,  and  these  delicate  torpedo 
boats  had  to  be  used  for  the  purpose.  It  was  like 
ploughing  a  stumpy  field  with  a  carefully  groomed  and 
trained  thoroughbred  horse.  On  Sunday,  May  22d,  at 
1.30  P.  M.,  I  stopped  my  engines  two  hundred  yards 
astern  of  the  Brooklyn,  off  Cienfuegos,  Cuba,  and,  as 
my  arm  was  still  bandaged  to  my  side,  sent  my  execu 
tive  officer  on  board  to  report  the  ship  to  Commodore 
Schley  for  duty  in  his  squadron,  and  at  the  same  time 
deliver  him  the  official  mail  I  had  received  from  Ad 
miral  Sampson  for  him.  I  had,  about  1.15  P.M.,  sa 
luted  the  flag  of  the  commodore.  It  was  thus  that  I 
became  a  part  of  the  much-talked-of  and  discussed 
flying  squadron. 

On  May  23d  I  took  in  two  hundred  and  fifty-five 
tons  of  coal  from  a  collier  between  the  hours  of  10 
A.  M.  and  6.30  P.  M.,  besides  giving  coal  to  a  torpedo 
boat.  During  the  night  it  was  reported  to  me  that 
there  were  three  white  lights  in  line  on  shore,  which 
I  knew  was  the  signal  from  the  insurgents  that  they 
wished  to  communicate.  I,  of  course,  took  it  for 
granted  that  the  commodore  understood  this  signal 
as  well  as  I  did,  otherwise  I  should  have  informed  him  of 
its  significance.  It  appeared  afterward  that  he  did  not; 

427 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  thus  much  valuable  time  was  lost.  On  the  morning 
of  the  24th  the  Marblehead  arrived,  and  the  moment 
Commander  McCalla  heard  of  the  three  lights  he  went 
in  and  communicated,  and  in  a  few  hours  Schley 
knew  that  the  Spanish  fleet  was  not  in  Cienfuegos. 

In  the  meantime  I  had  received  a  draft  of  thirty- 
seven  men  from  the  Marblehead,  most  of  them  re 
cruits  from  Detroit,  Michigan.  At  7.55  that  even 
ing  the  squadron  got  under  way  and  went  to  sea,  bound 
for  Santiago.  During  the  25th  and  26th  we  steamed 
along  slowly,  at  times  making  as  low  as  five  knots  in 
order  to  allow  the  Eagle,  a  small  converted  yacht,  to 
keep  company  with  us.  She  was  bothered  by  the 
roughness  of  the  sea,  which  did  not  trouble  the  larger 
vessels.  The  Brooklyn  or  Iowa  could  have  towed  her 
ten  knots  or  more  without  difficulty.  At  times  we 
steamed  eight  or  nine  knots,  which  was  the  greatest 
speed  we  made  during  the  trip.  At  5.25  p.  M.,  May 
26th,  we  stopped  our  engines  at  a  point  twenty-six  to 
thirty  miles  to  the  south  of  Santiago,  and  there  re 
mained  four  hours  or  more  in  communication  with 
the  St.  Paul,  the  Yale,  and  the  Minneapolis.  The  air 
was  very  clear  and  the  high  mountains  back  of  San 
tiago  could  be  seen,  but  nothing  else.  No  attempt 
was  made,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  determine  whether  the 
Spanish  fleet  was  in  the  harbour  or  not.  At  7.50  P.  M. 
the  commodore  made  the  following  general  signal  to 
the  squadron:  "  Destination  Key  West,  via  south  side 
of  Cuba  and  Yucatan  channel,  as  soon  as  collier  is 
ready;  speed  nine  knots."  At  9.10  we  went  ahead 
at  nine  knots'  speed,  heading  west,  bound,  as  I  sup 
posed  from  the  signal,  for  Key  West. 

428 


Bewildering  Orders 

All  hands  on  the  Iowa  were  greatly  surprised  at 
this  unexpected  retreat,  and  I  for  one  was  absolutely  in 
the  dark  as  to  its  meaning.  I  felt  reasonably  sure  that 
Cervera  was  in  Santiago,  but  concluded  that  the  com 
modore  had  better  information  than  I  on  that  point. 
My  natural  inference  was  that  the  Spanish  ships  had 
left  Santiago  and  gone  to  the  westward,  and  that  we 
were  going  after  them.  This  inference  was  completely 
wrong,  for  after  two  hours  we  stopped  again  and  drifted 
about  until  noon  of  the  following  day,  while  some  of  the 
vessels  took  coal  from  the  collier.  Then  we  stood  on  to 
the  west  again,  occasionally  stopping,  until  1.25  P.  M., 
May  28th,  when  we  were  signalled  to  steer  east,  one 
half  north,  and  steam  six  knots  per  hour.  Thus  we 
headed  back  in  the  direction  of  Santiago. 

As  there  had  been  no  conference  of  commanding 
officers,  we  were  all  completely  bewildered  as  to  what 
this  peculiar  manoeuvring  might  mean.  Some  of  us, 
remembering  the  fate  of  Admiral  Byng,  felt  that  if 
Cervera  was  really  in  Santiago  and  got  one  of  his  ships 
away  and  on  to  the  coast  of  the  United  States,  while 
we  were  tinkering  at  the  machinery  of  a  collier,  the 
world  might  be  startled  by  another  dreadful  court- 
martial  sentence. 


429 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII 

FIGHTING   AT    LONG   RANGE 

AT  7.40  P.  M.,  May  28th,  the  squadron  stopped  off 
the  entrance  to  the  harbour  of  Santiago,  distant  there 
from  about  nine  miles.  During  the  night  we  steamed 
slowly  back  and  forth,  closing  in  somewhat  before  day 
light.  At  early  dawn  I  was  standing  on  the  bridge 
with  the  executive  officer,  Lieutenant-Commander 
Rodgers,  who  had  been  our  naval  attache  at  Madrid 
and  who  knew  every  vessel  in  the  Spanish  navy.  As 
we  stood  straining  our  eyes  for  what  we  hoped  we 
might  see,  he  suddenly  turned  on  me  and  said,  "  Cap 
tain,  there's  the  Cristobal  Colon!"  In  a  moment 
I  caught  her  with  my  glasses  lying  moored  in  front  of 
the  Punta  Gorda  battery  in  a  position  to  command  the 
channel.  The  information  was  quickly  flagged  to  the 
Brooklyn,  and  in  a  second  or  two  the  answer  came  back, 
"  I  understand."  Then  we  made  out  another  Spanish 
ship  and  a  torpedo  boat  and  flagged  this  information 
at  once.  Again  the  answer  came  back,  "  I  under 
stand." 

In  the  meantime  I  had  gone  to  general  quarters 
and  loaded  the  heavy  guns,  hoping  that  we  might 
have  a  chance  to  use  them  on  the  Colon  as  she  lay 
helpless  and  at  our  mercy,  but  such  was  not  to  be 

430 


Cervera  Discovered 

our  luck.  We  steamed  about  in  front  of  the  harbour 
until  a  signal  was  made  during  the  forenoon  for  com 
manding  officers  to  repair  on  board  the  flagship.  Then 
the  fleet  stopped  while  the  commodore  and  his  com 
manders  discussed  the  situation.  The  details  of  this 
conference  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  give,  but  I  may  say 
without  impropriety  that  Commodore  Schley  was  at 
last  satisfied  that  Cervera's  fleet  was  in  Santiago  Har 
bour  and  not  in  Cienfuegos.  We  continued  to  steam 
about  in  front  of  the  place  during  Sunday,  Monday, 
and  Tuesday,  while  the  Colon,  with  fires  hauled  and 
awnings  spread,  lay  in  plain  sight,  quietly  watching  us. 

At  1 1. 20  A.  M.,  May  3ist,  Commodore  Schley  made 
this  signal  to  the  squadron:  "  The  Massachusetts,  New 
Orleans,  and  Iowa  will  go  in  after  dinner  to  a  distance 
of  seven  thousand  yards  and  fire  at  Cristobal  Colon 
with  eight-  and  twelve-  and  thirteen-inch  guns.  Speed 
about  ten  knots."  At  1.25  P.  M.  the  three  ships  men 
tioned  formed  column,  the  Massachusetts  leading, 
showing  the  broad  pennant  of  Commodore  Schley;  the 
New  Orleans,  a  vessel  purchased  in  England  and  with 
a  new  crew  came  second;  and  the  Iowa  last.  The  sec 
ond-class  battle-ship  Texas,  the  splendid  armoured 
cruiser  Brooklyn,  and  the  gunboat  Marblehead,  were 
spectators  of  the  fight  that  followed. 

The  Massachusetts  opened  fire  at  1.50,  her  first 
thirteen-inch  shell  striking  the  water  outside  the  Morro, 
as  I  judged  about  two  thousand  yards  short  of  the  Co 
lon.  I  therefore  set  my  gun  sights  at  eighty-five  hun 
dred  yards  and  at  1.56  opened  fire  as  soon  as  the  Colon 
could  be  seen.  All  the  projectiles  fell  short,  though  our 
guns  were  elevated  to  nine  thousand  yards.  The  har- 

431 


A  Sailor's  Log 

bour  entrance  was  so  narrow  and  our  speed  so  great  we 
could  only  fire  a  few  shots  before  the  Spanish  ship  was 
shut  out  by  the  land.  At  2.01  I  ceased  firing.  The 
Massachusetts  in  the  meantime  had  turned  with  port 
helm  away  from  the  land,  and  thus  materially  increased 
the  distance  from  the  Colon.  She  opened  fire  again  at 
2.05,  and  the  commodore  made  this  signal:  "  Do  not 
go  in  any  closer."  When  I  had  turned  the  Iowa  and 
could  see  the  Colon,  I  decreased  my  speed  and  opened 
fire  at  2.08,  range  ninety-five  hundred  yards,  which  I 
gradually  increased  to  eleven  thousand  as  I  saw  the 
shells  falling  short.  At  2.16  the  commodore  signalled, 
"  Cease  firing,"  and  the  battle  was  over.  Nobody  had 
been  struck,  Spaniard  or  American.  Two  battle  ships 
and  a  cruiser  on  our  side  had  engaged  one  cruiser  and  a 
few  guns  mounted  on  shore  on  the  Spanish  side  for 
about  fifteen  minutes  and  then  drew  off.  The  only 
cause  we  had  for  congratulation  was  the  fact  that  no 
body  was  hurt.  I  had  all  four  of  my  twelve-inch  guns 
disabled  by  damage  to  the  dash  pots  from  high-angle 
fire,  but  they  were  repaired  long  before  we  had  any  real 
necessity  to  use  them. 

Commodore  Schley  transferred  his  flag  back  to 
the  Brooklyn  at  2.50  P.  M.,  the  enemy  ceased  firing 
at  3.10,  and  we  resumed  our  peaceful  cruising  up  and 
down  in  front  of  the  entrance  to  the  harbour.  Captain 
Moreau  of  the  Colon  told  me  weeks  afterward  that 
the  last  large  shell  from  the  Iowa  struck  about  forty 
feet  short  of  him,  and  when  it  exploded  a  small  piece 
of  it  found  its  way  into  his  cabin,  and  that  he  retained 
it  as  a  souvenir  of  the  day.  This  he  said  was  the  near 
est  any  projectile  came  to  striking  his  ship. 

432 


Volunteers  Wanted 

On  June  ist  Admiral  Sampson  arrived  early  in  the 
morning,  and  after  steaming  well  in  toward  the  Morro 
made  signal,  "  Come  closer."  From  that  hour  the 
blockade  of  Santiago  was  so  maintained  that  it  was 
not  possible  for  any  vessel  to  escape.  Orders  were 
issued  that  if  the  enemy's  ships  attempted  to  escape 
we  should  close  in  at  once  and  force  them  ashore  or 
sink  them;  and  these  orders  were  posted  on  the  bridge 
of  the  Iowa,  and,  I  assume,  on  other  ships  also,  so  that 
even  the  signal  boys  knew  what  was  to  be  done  when 
we  sighted  them. 

Preparations  were  at  once  begun  for  sinking  the 
Merrimac  in  the  channel,  which  was  done  in  the  most 
gallant  and  daring  manner  by  Assistant  Naval  Con 
structor  Hobson  on  the  morning  of  June  3d,  about  half 
an  hour  before  daylight.  During  the  afternoon  of  June 
2d  Sampson  had  signalled  me,  "  I  want  volunteers  to 
sink  the  Merrimac."  I  gave  the  signal  to  the  executive 
officer,  with  directions  to  read  it  to  the  crew  and  give 
me  the  names  of  those  who  wished  to  go.  In  a  short 
time  he  came  to  me  and  said  that  all  the  officers  had 
volunteered,  and  also  the  entire  crew  of  six  hundred 
men.  It  was  something  of  a  job  to  write  down  all 
their  names,  and,  as  I  was  sure  only  a  few  could  be  re 
quired,  I  signalled:  "  My  entire  crew  has  volunteered. 
How  many  men  do  you  want?  "  The  answer  came  back 
promptly,  "  I  want  one  seaman  from  the  Iowa."  The 
question  then  was  how  to  select  one  man  out  of  six 
hundred  good  ones.  I  was  naturally  anxious  to  send  a 
man  who  would  die  reflecting  credit  on  the  ship.  I 
had  no  idea  that  any  one  would  ever  come  out  of  the 
scrape  alive. 

433 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Two  men  were  selected,  one  by  me  and  one  by 
the  executive  officer.  I  took  a  petty  officer  named 
McLean,  who  had  served  with  me  in  the  Yorktown, 
a  first-class  man  in  every  respect;  the  executive  took 
a  young  seaman  named  Murphy,  a  native  of  the  State 
of  Maine,  also  first-class  in  every  way.  When  told 
that  I  was  going  to  sentence  one  of  them  to  death  in 
a  few  minutes,  and  being  asked  if  they  still  wanted  to 
go  in  the  Merrimac,  they  both  smiled  and  said  "  Yes." 
McLean  offered  Murphy  fifty  dollars  for  his  chance, 
which  was  promptly  declined,  and  the  toss  of  a  penny 
decided  the  case  in  Murphy's  favour.  Then  McLean 
offered  him  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  his  chance, 
which  was  also  promptly  declined,  and  the  poor  fellow 
went  forward  with  the  tears  streaming  out  of  his  eyes 
because  he  had  lost  a  chance  to  have  his  head  shot  off! 
They  were  fine  fellows  to  tie  to,  those  blue-shirted 
chaps  of  mine. 

The  position  of  the  Iowa  on  the  blockading  line 
was  directly  off  the  entrance  of  the  harbour,  so  that  we 
could  look  straight  up  the  channel  as  far  as  the  Punta 
Gorda  battery,  and  in  this  position  I  and  my  men  lived 
from  June  ist  until  July  3d.  I  was  absent  but  one 
clay,  when  I  ran  up  to  Guantanamo  Bay  for  coal,  and 
was  back  at  my  station  at  night.  We  took  coal  and 
food  and  ammunition  on  the  blockading  line,  and,  as 
I  have  said,  did  not  leave  it  until  the  necessity  for  a 
blockade  ceased  to  exist.  The  infernal  place  got  to 
look  like  home  to  us;  we  almost  knew  the  sharks  and 
fishes  that  swam  around  us.  Certainly  we  knew  the 
batteries  and  just  when  we  might  expect  to  hear  from 
them. 

434 


Hobson's  Exploit 

It  was  from  this  position  that  I  watched  the  Mer- 
rimac  make  her  last  trip  on  the  morning  of  June  3d. 
During  the  night  of  the  2d  I  caught  sight  of  her 
several  times,  but  it  was  nearly  daylight  when  I  saw 
her  distinctly  as  she  made  for  the  entrance  of  the  har 
bour.  The  Spaniards  were  on  the  alert,  and  just  as 
the  Merrimac  turned  into  the  channel  I  saw  the  flash 
of  a  small  gun,  and  immediately  afterward  the  firefly 
sparks  along  the  shore  indicated  that  the  infantry  had 
opened  on  her  with  their  Mausers.  Then  the  guns 
on  Socapa  began  to  blaze  and  were  followed  by  those 
on  the  Morro  and  Esmeralda  batteries  and  the  Punta 
Gorda  fort.  Within  three  minutes  the  Reina  Mercedes 
and  other  ships  opened  up,  and,  as  their  heavy  guns 
flashed,  the  doomed  ship  stood  out  clear  and  distinct 
in  the  accumulating  clouds  of  smoke.  Finally  the 
whole  entrance  to  the  harbour  was  a  roaring  blaze  of 
powder  smoke,  and  the  Merrimac  was  shut  out  from 
our  view.  It  was  a  dreadful  sight — to  my  mind  what 
hell  might  look  like  with  the  lid  off!  I  had  seen  all 
I  cared  to  look  at,  and,  convinced  that  the  gallant 
Hobson  and  his  equally  gallant  men  had  gone  aloft 
forever,  I  retired  to  the  pilot  house,  where  I  consoled 
myself  with  a  pipe.  Slowly  the  clouds  of  smoke  lifted 
and  daylight  disclosed  the  smokestack  and  masts  of 
the  sunken  ship  sticking  out  of  the  water. 

As  soon  as  it  was  fairly  light  I  received  a  signal  to 
stand  in  close  and  prevent  any  interference  with  the 
wreck  of  the  Merrimac.  I  understood  at  once  that 
Sampson  wished  me  to  see  that  dynamite  was  not  used 
on  her,  and,  having  reached  a  point  where  I  could  com 
mand  the  channel  with  my  guns,  I  stopped  the  engines 

435 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  waited  for  something  to  happen.  All  was  as  still  as 
death,  and  there  was  no  living  thing  in  sight.  I  could 
see  something  swinging  to  a  line  from  the  mast  of  the 
Merrimac  that  looked  like  a  life  raft,  but  my  strongest 
glasses  failed  to  show  anything  like  a  man  on  or  about 
it.  Just  at  sunrise,  as  I  stood  on  the  end  of  the  bridge 
watching  intently,  a  white-covered  navy  steam  launch 
came  in  sight  steering  down  the  channel,  and,  as  she 
approached  the  wreck,  the  executive  officer,  who  was 
by  my  side,  said,  "  Captain,  shall  I  open  fire?  "  "  No," 
I  replied,  "  not  yet."  I  meant  to  sink  the  boat,  of 
course,  if  she  showed  any  inclination  to  disturb  the 
quiet  of  the  scene.  She  stopped  near  the  wreck  for 
ten  minutes  or  more  and  I  could  see  a  few  men  mov 
ing  about  on  her  rail,  then  she  turned  and  went  back 
up  the  harbour.  I  never  knew  until  Hobson  told  me, 
weeks  afterward,  that  Admiral  Cervera  was  himself 
in  the  launch  and  that  he  (Hobson)  was  under  the 
raft  with  his  seven  men,  and  that  he  surrendered  to 
the  Spanish  admiral  and  was  by  him  taken  to  the  flag 
ship.  If  I  had  opened  fire  on  the  boat,  I  should  prob 
ably  have  destroyed  her  and  killed  the  whole  party, 
and  two  of  the  most  picturesque  figures  in  the  Spanish 
war  would  have  disappeared — Cervera  and  Hobson. 

About  three  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  June  3d 
Admiral  Cervera  did  a  thing  that  stamped  him  as  the 
gallant  Spanish  gentleman  we  afterward  found  him  to 
be.  He  sent  out  a-  vessel  under  a  flag  of  truce  with 
his  chief  of  staff,  Captain  Bustamente,  to  communicate 
with  Admiral  Sampson  and  to  say  to  him  that  Hob- 
son  and  his  men  were  well,  had  behaved  most  gallantly, 
and  that  he  personally  would  see  to  their  welfare;  also 

436 


Guantanamo  Seized 

that  he  would  be  glad  to  have  us  send  in  clothing  or 
other  things  that  would  add  to  their  comfort.  There 
was  never  a  more  courteous  thing  done  in  war,  and  I 
am  sure  that  every  man  in  the  American  fleet  appre 
ciated  it.  That  they  afterward  showed  their  apprecia 
tion  and  in  a  very  substantial  way  is  now  a  matter  of 
history. 

During  the  early  days  of  June  the  bay  of  Guanta 
namo  was  seized,  and,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  the 
battalion  of  marines  under  Colonel  Huntington  and 
the  force  under  Captain  McCalla  controlled  the  en 
trance  to  the  harbour.  The  American  flag  was  hoisted 
on  the  captured  Spanish  fort,  and  for  the  first  time  it 
flew  over  Cuban  soil  supported  by  American  men.  I, 
for  one,  hope  it  may  never  be  hauled  down.  The  pos 
session  of  this  beautiful  landlocked  water  gave  us  a 
secure  base  where  small  vessels  would  be  safe  in  storms, 
and  all  hands  could  coal  in  any  kind  of  weather.  A 
great  load  was  lifted  from  the  minds  of  all  command 
ing  officers,  but  the  relief  to  the  commander-in-chief 
was  the  greatest  of  all. 

There  had  been  rumours  of  the  approach  of  the 
American  army  under  General  Shafter,  and  while  we 
maintained  our  strict  blockade  we  prayed  that  they 
would  come  soon,  for  the  heat  and  strain  of  the  work 
were  hard  to  bear.  We  fired  on  the  batteries  fre 
quently,  more  to  give  our  men  practice  than  for  any 
other  reason,  for  we  all  knew  that  it  was  impossible 
for  any  naval  force  to  destroy  them  because  of  their 
location  and  commanding  positions.  We  could  and 
did  drive  the  men  away  from  the  guns  and  keep  them 
away  from  them  whenever  we  opened  on  them,  but 
29  437 


A  Sailor's  Log 

the  entire  destruction  of  the  works  was  beyond  our 
power.  The  harbour  and  the  ships  it  contained 
were  inaccessible  to  a  naval  force,  owing  to  the  char 
acter*  of  the  channel  and  the  mines  planted  in  it.  The 
capture  of  the  forts  was  an  army  job,  and  we  of  the 
navy  waited  with  absolute  faith  and  such  patience  as 
we  could  command  for  the  time  when  our  brother  arm 
of  the  service  would  come  and  do  it. 

At  last  the  rumours  took  positive  shape  and  we 
knew  that  General  Shafter  was  on  the  way  to  Santiago 
with  seventeen  thousand  of  the  best  men  in  the  world. 
On  the  afternoon  of  June  2Oth  the  great  forest  of  masts 
and  smokestacks  off  to  the  south  of  Santiago  showed 
that  the  transport  fleet  had  arrived.  In  a  few  hours 
orders  came  to  send  our  boats,  properly  officered  and 
manned,  to  a  rendezvous  off  Baiquiri  at  a  stated  time 
to  land  the  army  and  their  belongings.  This  was  a 
great  surprise  to  us  all,  as  we  had  been  notified  that  this 
duty  would  not  be  required  of  us  and  we  had  left 
nearly  all  our  boats  at  Key  West.  However,  we  were 
only  too  glad  to  do  all  and  everything  in  our  power 
to  assist  those  who  had  come  to  help  us  to  capture 
Santiago  and  its  Spanish  garrison.  Our  only  ^regret 
was  that  they  found  us  so  badly  prepared  to  do  the  work 
in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Our  officers  and  men 
were  constantly  employed  night  and  day  for  three  days 
landing  the  troops,  and  many  of  them  for  over  a  week 
more  landing  provisions  and  stores.  In  a  word,  we 
did  everything  that  it  was  possible  for  us  to  do,  and 
in  return  received  the  warmest  thanks  and  the  com 
mendation  of  General  Shafter  expressed  in  official  form. 

From  my  position  off  the  Morro  I  saw  little  of  the 
438 


Startling  Orders 

work  of  the  army.  Occasionally  I  could  see  small  par 
ties  of  men  on  the  hills  back  of  Siboney,  and  when  the 
troops  were  seriously  engaged  I  could  judge  their  posi 
tion  by  the  clouds  of  smoke  from  the  field  guns,  but 
of  the  actual  fighting  I  saw  nothing. 

As  time  passed  and  the  lines  were  established  on 
the  land  side,  Admiral  Sampson  drew  in  closer  his 
blockading  lines,  so  that  we  were  always  within  easy 
range  of  the  Spanish  guns.  At  first  our  distance  from 
the  harbour  entrance  during  the  daytime  had  been  four 
or  five  miles;  now  it  was  three,  and  during  the  night  two 
miles  and  even  nearer. 

The  plan  of  using  search  lights  was  perfectly  car 
ried  out  and  originated,  no  doubt,  with  Sampson  him 
self.  I  was  the  first  one  to  carry  out  his  orders  in 
this  respect,  and  I  shall  never  forget  my  sensations 
as  I  did  it.  The  Iowa  was  well  in  toward  the  land 
when  the  New  York  steamed  in  near  me  and  the 
admiral  hailed  and  said,  "  At  dark,  I  wish  you  to  go 
in  and  turn  a  search  light  on  the  channel."  "  How 
near  shall  I  go,  sir?  "  I  replied.  "  Go  in  until  you 
can  detect  a  small  boat  crossing  in  front  of  the  Punta 
Gorda^battery,"  came  back  through  the  megaphone. 
"  How  long  shall  I  remain  there,  sir?  "  I  asked.  "  All 
night,  sir."  "  Ay,  ay,  sir."  The  admiral  certainly  had 
given  me  a  new  sensation.  The  idea  of  deliberately 
placing  a  battle  ship  within  a  mile  of  two  of  the  fastest 
torpedo  boats  in  the  world,  and  then  turning  on  a 
search  light  to  mark  her  position,  was  novel  at  least. 
All  writers  on  the  subject  had  advised  sending  such 
valuable  ships  to  sea  at  night  to  keep  the  torpedo 
boats  away  from  them;  but  Sampson  had  thought 

439 


A  Sailor's  Log 

rapidly  and  accurately,  and  had  gauged  the  features  of 
this  special  case  most  admirably,  as  the  result  showed. 

At  dark  that  night  I  steamed  the  Iowa  in  for  this 
new  duty,  and,  when  I  reached  what  I  supposed  to  be 
the  proper  position,  turned  on  the  search  light  and 
stopped  the  engines.  All  hands  were  at  quarters,  guns 
loaded,  and  everything  ready  to  return  the  fire  I  felt 
sure  would  be  opened  on  us.  As  the  ship  lost  way  and 
came  to  a  standstill  in  the  water,  I  examined  carefully 
the  channel  with  my  glasses  and  concluded  that  I  was 
not  yet  near  enough  to  insure  the  work  I  wras  ordered 
to  do.  I  therefore  shut  off  the  light  and  again  steamed 
in,  and  when  I  stopped  the  second  time,  the  beam  of 
the  search  light  showed  up  everything  very  distinctly. 
The  sentries  on  the  Morro  could  be  seen  plainly  as  they 
pulled  their  hats  down  over  their  eyes  as  a  protection 
against  the  glare.  The  infantry  fired  spitefully  with 
their  Mausers  without  doing  any  harm,  but  the  bat 
teries  remained  silent,  which  has  always  been  a  great 
surprise  and  puzzle  to  all  of  us.  They  could  have  shot 
the  search  light  out  of  us  without  doubt  if  they  knew 
the  first  principles  of  pointing  guns.  Maybe  they  knew 
there  were  a  lot  of  search  lights  in  that  fleet  and  it 
would  be  a  hard  job  to  put  them  all  out. 

After  the  first  night,  three  battle  ships — the  Iowa, 
Oregon,  and  Massachusetts — were  detailed  to  do 
search-light  duty,  and  there  was  never  a  minute  at 
night,  until  the  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed,  when  the 
channel  was  not  so  lighted  that  it  was  impossible  for 
anything  to  move  on  the  water  without  being  seen. 
The  duty  was  well  done,  and  only  those  who  did  it 
know  how  hard  it  was  or  how  great  the  strain.  As  a 

440 


The  Search  Lights 

rule  the  darkness  was  intense,  and  between  the  battle 
ships  and  the  shore  were  guard  boats  and  picket 
launches  which  would  be  endangered  if  their  position 
were  disclosed,  and  as  a  consequence  the  beam  of  the 
search  light  had  to  be  accurately  held  on  the  channel. 
To  do  this  when  the  heavy  swell  and  the  strong  tide 
were  cutting  the  ship  about  was  more  difficult  than  the 
average  person  would  imagine.  It  was  beautiful  to  see 
the  accuracy  with  which  these  great  ships  were  han 
dled  as  they  came  in  or  went  out  of  position  with  twen 
ty-five  or  thirty  vessels  crowded  about  them  and  not 
a  light  on  any  of  them.  During  all  the  time  we  were 
there  the  paint  was  not  even  scratched  on  one  of  them 
by  collision. 

On  July  2d  the  long-looked-for  attack  on  the  shore 
batteries  about  Santiago  was  made,  and  the  Spanish 
resistance  found  more  stubborn  than  was  anticipated. 
The  fleet  was  much  disheartened  by  the  report  that 
General  Shafter  intended  to  retire  and  fortify  in  a 
stronger  position;  but  we  all  felt  that,  whatever  he  did, 
the  Spanish  fleet  was  doomed.  None  of  us  imagined  for 
a  moment  that  Admiral  Cervera  would  attempt  any 
thing  in  the  nature  of  a  sortie,  for  that  would  be  court 
ing  certain  destruction.  What  we  thought  he  might  at 
any  moment  do  would  be  to  destroy  his  ships,  land  his 
men,  and  attempt  to  cut  his  way  through  our  weak 
ened  lines.  Toward  evening  on  the  2d  we  discovered 
that  several  of  the  Spanish  blockhouses  to  the  west 
and  northwest  of  Santiago  were  on  fire,  which  indi 
cated  that  the  outposts  on  the  mountains  were  being 
forced  in  by  the  insurgents  and  that  they  were  de 
stroying  everything  before  retiring.  Just  at  sunset 

441 


A  Sailor's  Log 

Lieutenant  F.  K.  Hill,  who  was  the  officer  of  the  deck 
on  board  the  Iowa,  sent  for  me,  and  when  I  reached 
the  bridge  pointed  out  to  me  these  fires,  which  pre 
sented  a  beautiful  sight.  He  also  called  my  attention  to 
six  columns  of  smoke  near  the  entrance  to  the  harbour 
which  rose  straight  in  the  calm  evening  air.  His  opin 
ion  was  that  this  indicated  some  movement  on  the 
part  of  the  enemy's  fleet,  which  was  correct.  It 
showed  beyond  a  doubt  that  they  had  moved  down 
from  in  front  of  the  city;  but,  as  they  had  often  moved 
about  the  harbour,  I  did  not  consider  it  a  matter  of  im 
portance.  I  only  said  to  Lieutenant  Hill  that  we  had 
the  first  search-light  duty  that  night,  and  if  they  came 
out  we  should  have  a  good  chance  at  them,  dismissed 
the  subject  from  my  mind,  and  went  about  my  business. 
The  incident,  however,  made  a  more  serious  impression 
on  the  mind  of  the  signal  quartermaster  who  was  look 
ing  after  the  flags,  and  he,  without  orders  to  do  so, 
bent  on  signal  250 — " Enemy's  ships  coming  out" — and 
had  it  ready  to  hoist.  The  flags  remained  bent  on  to 
the  halliards  all  night,  and  were  therefore  ready  to  hoist 
on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  when  the  fleet  came  out. 


442 


CHAPTER   XXXIX 

THE  NAVAL  BATTLE  OFF  SANTIAGO 

ABOUT  daylight  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  July 
3d,  my  son,  Franck  Taylor  Evans,  a  naval  cadet  serv 
ing  on  the  battle  ship  Massachusetts,  came  on  board 
the  Iowa.  He  had  been  on  picket  duty  during  the 
night  of  the  2d,  and  as  his  ship  had  gone  to  Guan- 
tanamo  for  coal,  he  brought  his  boat  to  my  ship  to 
remain  until  his  own  vessel  returned.  It  was  this  lucky 
chance  that  enabled  him  to  take  part  in  the  battle  of 
that  memorable  day.  The  officers  and  men  were  about 
to  be  sent  to  quarters  for  Sunday  inspection,  all  dressed 
in  clean  white  uniforms,  and  I  and  my  son  were  just 
finishing  our  cigars  after  breakfast  when  the  alarm  for 
battle  sounded  all  over  the  ship.  Both  of  us  sprang  to 
our  feet  and  started  for  the  deck,  and  as  my  head  came 
above  the  hatch  a  gun  was  fired  from  the  lower  bridge 
of  the  Iowa,  aimed  in  the  direction  of  the  Maria  Teresa 
by  Lieutenant  Hill,  who  was  again  officer  of  the  deck. 
Before  this  gun  was  fired,  and  immediately  upon  dis 
covering  the  bows  of  the  leading  Spanish  ship,  the  sig 
nal  250,  which  had  been  bent  on  the  night  before,  was 
run  up,  and  thus  the  Iowa  had  the  honour  of  firing  the 
first  gun  of  the  action,  and  first  making  signal  that 
the  enemy's  ships  were  attempting  to  escape.  When 

443 


A  Sailor's  Log 

I  reached  the  bridge  I  found  the  engines  set  full  speed 
ahead  and  the  ship  pointing  straight  for  the  entrance 
of  the  harbour.  In  about  two  minutes  the  guns  of  the 
starboard  battery  began  firing — that  is  to  say,  the 
eight-  and  four-inch  guns  of  the  starboard  battery  and 
the  forward  twelve-inch  guns.  The  crews  of  the  rapid- 
fire  guns  were  held  in  reserve  until  we  should  get  to 
closer  quarters. 

As  soon  as  I  had  a  chance  to  look  about  me,  I  saw 
the  New  York  about  seven  miles  away  off  Siboney  with 
her  helm  to  port  and  turning  rapidly  in  the  direction  of 
the  fleet,  and,  judging  from  the  great  volume  of  smoke 
pouring  from  her  smokestacks,  her  fires  were  being 
forced  as  much  as  possible.  I  could  see  distinctly  the 
admiral's  flag  at  her  masthead,  and  with  my  glasses 
could  have  read  any  signal  she  had  hoisted.  She  had 
started  to  the  eastward  a  short  time  before,  flying  the 
signal,  "  Disregard  the  movements  of  the  commander 
in  chief,"  a  signal  that  had  been  made  whenever  the  ad 
miral  had  for  any  reason  been  compelled  to  leave  the 
blockading  line.  This  signal  indicated  that  we  were 
not  to  follow  the  motions  of  the  flagship,  but,  instead, 
close  up  somewhat  so  as  to  cover  the  interval  caused  by 
her  absence,  all  of  which  was  perfectly  understood  by 
the  fleet.  Before  the  firing  began,  my  son  asked  me 
where  he  should  take  station,  and  I  directed  him  to  re 
port  to  the  officer  commanding  the  division  that  corre 
sponded  to  the  one  he  served  in  on  board  of  his  own 
ship.  I  also  directed  that  the  men  of  his  boat's  crew 
should  be  stationed  where  they  could  render  good 
service. 

As  the  leading  Spanish  ship,  the  flagship  Maria 
444 


The  Spanish  Fleet  Appears 

Teresa,  swung  into  the  channel  leading  out  from  the 
Punta  Gorda,  she  presented  a  magnificent  appearance 
with  her  splendid  new  battle  flags  and  her  polished 
brass  work.  Her  bright  new  coat  of  paint  was  in 
marked  contrast  to  the  lead-coloured,  iron-rusted  ships 
that  were  rushing  full  speed  at  her.  As  she  passed  the 
Diamond  Shoal  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbour  she 
swung  off  to  the  westward  and  opened  fire  smartly  with 
her  port  broadside  and  turret  guns.  From  this  mo 
ment  the  battle  may  be  said  to  have  been  on,  and  the 
roaring  of  the  guns  was  incessant.  The  Vizcaya  came 
second,  about  six  hundred  yards  astern  of  the  flagship, 
followed  by  the  Colon  and  then  the  Oquendo,  bringing 
up  the  rear;  the  torpedo  boats  Furor  and  Pluton  were 
not  yet  in  sight.  The  speed  I  judged  to  be  about  eight 
knots  as  the  ships  came  down  the  channel,  which  was 
increased  to  thirteen  or  more  as  they  kept  away  to 
the  westward  in  the  open  sea.  They  came  at  us  like 
mad  bulls,  and  presented  a  fine  appearance  as  I  caught 
sight  of  them  occasionally  through  the  dense  smoke  of 
our  battery. 

It  had  been  my  intention  from  the  first  to  ram  or 
torpedo  the  flagship  if  I  could  reach  her,  and  to  insure 
this,  I  remained,  as  much  as  I  could,  in  the  conning 
tower  at  the  side  of  the  quartermaster,  who  was  steer 
ing,  watching  carefully  every  move  of  the  wheel  and 
directing  the  man  just  where  to  head.  I  kept  the 
Maria  Teresa  open  on  my  starboard  bow,  so  that  the 
guns  could  have  a  chance  at  her,  until  it  became  evi 
dent  that  I  could  not  ram  her  or  even  get  within  tor 
pedo  range,  when  I  swung  off  to  port,  gave  her  the  full 
benefit  of  my  starboard  broadside,  and  then  swung  back 

44.5 


A  Sailor's  Log 

quickly  and  headed  across  the  bows  of  the  second  ship, 
hoping  to  be  able  to  reach  her  with  my  ram.  The 
Maria  Teresa  passed  me  at  a  distance  of  about  twenty- 
six  hundred  yards,  and,  as  she  crossed  my  bows,  our  for 
ward  twelve-inch  guns  were  fired  and  I  was  confident 
that  I  saw  both  shells  strike  the  Spanish  ship.  As  I 
swung  back  for  the  second  ship,  my  port  battery  opened 
on  the  Maria  Teresa  and  the  starboard  guns  continued 
to  play  on  the  Vizcaya  and  Colon,  which  were  ap 
proaching  us  at  great  speed.  The  fire  of  the  first  ship 
had  been  very  rapid  and  accurate  when  she  opened,  but 
it  grew  ragged  and  inaccurate  as  the  range  decreased. 
I  soon  found  that  the  Vizcaya  would  also  pass  ahead 
of  me,  and  that  I  could  not  reach  her  with  ram  or 
torpedo.  I  accordingly  swung  to  port,  gave  her  my 
broadside,  and,  as  she  passed  at  nineteen  hundred 
yards,  put  my  helm  to  port  and  headed  in  again  to  try 
for  the  next  ship. 

At  this  time  the  Colon  came  with  a  great  show  of 
speed,  passing  between  the  leading  ships  and  the  shore 
and  much  protected  by  their  smoke.  As  she  passed 
she  struck  me  twice — two  as  beautiful  shots  as  I  ever 
saw  made  by  any  ship.  I  had  been  doing  my  best  to 
fight  the  Iowa  from  the  conning  tower,  but  the  tempta 
tion  to  see  the  fight  was  more  than  I  could  resist,  and  I 
frequently  found  myself  on  the  bridge,  deeply  inter 
ested  in  the  magnificent  spectacle  about  me.  It  thus 
happened  that  I  was  on  the  end  of  the  bridge  when 
the  Colon  paid  her  respects  to  us.  The  first  shell  she 
fired  at  us,  through  a  rent  in  the  smoke,  struck  on  the 
starboard  side  a  little  forward  of  the  bridge,  about  four 
feet  above  the  water  line,  passed  through  the  cellulose 

446 


Shells  coming  Aboard 

belt,  and  exploded  on  the  berth  deck,  demolishing  the 
dispensary,  breaking  almost  every  medicine  bottle  in  it, 
and  doing  great  damage  otherwise.  The  smells  that 
came  up  in  consequence  of  this  explosion  were  varie 
gated  and  intense,  a  mixture  of  medicine  and  mellinite. 
The  second  shell,  of  the  same  size  as  the  first — about 
six  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter — struck  just  at  the 
water  line  and  about  six  to  ten  feet  farther  forward, 
passed  through  the  side  and  into  the  cellulose  belt, 
where  it  broke  up  without  exploding.  It  however, 
made  an  ugly,  jagged  hole,  eighteen  inches  long  and 
eight  inches  wide,  through  which  the  water  poured 
with  great  rapidity.  The  cellulose  in  the  coffer  dam, 
which  was  supposed  to  swell  up  and  stop  the  shot 
hole,  washed  out  and  floated  astern  in  a  broad,  brown 
streak.  I  think  the  Colon  fired  only  twice  at  me,  and, 
as  I  have  stated,  she  did  excellent  shooting  as  far  as  I 
could  see. 

When  the  Oquendo  approached  me,  I  found  that  if 
I  held  on  my  course  she  would  pass  ahead  of  me,  so  I 
changed  and  ran  parallel  with  her  at  a  distance  of  about 
sixteen  to  fourteen  hundred  yards  and  opened  on  her 
my  entire  battery,  including  the  rapid-fire  and  machine 
guns.  At  this  time  she  was  under  the  concentrated  fire 
of  several  of  our  ships  and  the  effect  was  most  destruc 
tive.  She  rolled  and  staggered  like  a  drunken  thing, 
and  finally  seemed  to  stop  her  engines.  I  thought  she 
was  going  to  strike  her  colours,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
ordering  the  battery  to  cease  firing,  when  she  started 
ahead  again  and  we  redoubled  our  efforts  to  sink  her. 
As  I  looked  at  her  I  could  see  the  shot  holes  come  in 
her  sides  and  our  shells  explode  inside  of  her,  but  she 

447 


A  Sailor's  Log 

pluckily  held  on  her  course  and  fairly  smothered  us 
with  a  shower  of  shells  and  machine-gun  shots. 

In  the  meantime  the  Spanish  flagship  headed  for 
the  shore,  in  flames,  fore  and  aft,  and  soon  took  the 
ground  about  seven  miles  to  the  west  of  the  entrance  to 
Santiago  Harbour,  and  a  few  minutes  later  the 
Oquendo  followed  her,  the  flames  bursting  out  through 
the  shot  holes  in  her  sides  and  leaping  up  from  the  deck 
as  high  as  the  military  tops.  It  was  a  magnificent,  sad 
sight  to  see  these  beautiful  ships  in  their  death  agonies; 
but  we  were  doing  the  work  we  had  been  educated  for, 
and  we  cheered  and  yelled  until  our  throats  were  sore. 

When  we  were  hotly  engaged  with  the  last  ship, 
two  dense  spots  of  black  smoke  and  two  long  white 
streaks  on  the  water  indicated  the  positions  of  the 
Spanish  torpedo  boats  as  they  made  their  gallant  dash 
for  liberty.  We  turned  our  rapid-fire  guns  and  the 
after  guns  of  the  main  battery  on  them,  and  at  the  same 
time  other  ships  concentrated  on  the  little  gamecocks. 
In  a  very  short  time — not  more  than  five  minutes,  I 
should  say — a  splendid  column  of  steam  mixed  with 
coal  dust  sprang  hundreds  of  feet  in  the  air,  and  I  knew 
that  the  boiler  of  one  of  them  had  blown  up.  A  few 
minutes  later  the  second  one  blew  up,  and  the  torpedo 
boats  that  had  caused  so  much  worry  to  friends  and 
foes  alike  were  things  of  the  past.  They  had  given  us 
many  sleepless  nights,  but  when  it  came  to  the  test  of 
battle  they  had  done  just  what  many  of  us  thought 
they  would  do.  They  had  been  disabled  and  destroyed 
in  the  shortest  possible  time.  It  was  almost  wicked  to 
waste  the  lives  of  brave  men  in  such  an  attempt. 

About  this  time  the  flagship  New  York  came  rac- 
448 


Destruction  of  Spanish  War  Ships 

ing  back  to  join  in  the  fight.  As  she  passed  the  bat 
teries  they  concentrated  a  heavy  fire  on  her,  to  which 
she  paid  no  attention,  but  fired  three  shots  at  one  of 
the  Spanish  torpedo  boats  and  then  hurried  on,  coming 
up  directly  astern  of  the  Iowa.  She  had  the  Vizcaya 
within  range  of  her  eight-inch  guns  for  some  time  be 
fore  that  vessel  ran  ashore,  but  in  order  to  hit  her, 
would  have  had  to  fire  over  the  Iowa,  which  I  suppose 
was  the  reason  why  Captain  Chadwick  held  his  fire. 
Afterward,  when  she  passed  between  me  and  the  wreck 
of  the  Vizcaya,  as  I  was  hoisting  out  my  boats  to  go 
to  her  relief,  my  men  broke  into  cheers  as  they  made 
out  Admiral  Sampson  on  the  bridge. 

The  course  of  the  Iowa  had  carried  her  inside  of  the 
rest  of  the  American  fleet,  and,  as  I  drew  up  abreast  of 
the  two  burning  Spanish  ships  on  the  beach,  I  could 
see  their  crews  struggling  in  the  water  where  the  shells 
of  our  ships  seemed  to  be  bursting  among  them.  The 
Maria  Teresa  had  a  white  flag  flying  forward,  which  I 
was  sure  could  not  be  seen  by  the  vessels  firing  on 
them,  so  I  hoisted  the  signal,  "  Enemy's  ships  have  sur 
rendered!  "  and  the  fire  was  at  once  concentrated  on 
the  fleeing  Vizcaya.  She  was  soon  on  fire,  and  off 
Accerraderos  turned  and  headed  for  the  shore,  smoke 
and  flames  pouring  from  her  ports  and  hatches.  The 
Colon,  the  last  ship  of  the  splendid  squadron,  was 
standing  to  the  westward,  hotly  pursued  by  the  Ore 
gon,  Brooklyn,  Texas,  and  New  York.  All  the  rest 
were  shapeless  wrecks  on  the  Cuban  shore,  and  nearly 
six  hundred  of  their  gallant  officers  and  men  •  had 
fought  their  last  fight.  God  and  the  gunners  had  had 
their  day. 

449 


A  Sailor's  Log 

At  this  point  the  battle  of  Santiago  may  be  said 
to  have  terminated;  at  any  rate  I  took  no  further  part 
in  it.  I  felt  that  I  should  be  of  no  use  in  the  chase  of 
the  Colon,  as  my  speed  was  low,  owing  to  the  foul  con 
dition  of  the  ship's  bottom.  She  had  been  in  the  water 
seventeen  months  without  docking,  and  her  cylinder 
heads  had  not  been  off  for  six  months.  There  was 
a  duty  for  me,  however,  which  I  felt  to  be  an  impera 
tive  one,  and  that  was  the  rescue  of  the  brave  but  un 
fortunate  men  who  had  fought  us  so  gallantly.  Their 
wounded  were  in  danger  of  burning  to  death,  and  those 
who  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  escape  from  the 
ships  were  in  danger  of  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Cuban 
insurgents,  who  were  willing,  and  I  must  say  with 
ample  provocation,  to  take  the  life  of  any  Spanish  offi 
cer  or  man.  They  were  our  prisoners,  however,  and 
I  made  up  my  mind  that  no  harm  should  come  to  them 
if  I  could  prevent  it.  I  therefore  ran  in  close  to  the 
burning  wreck  of  the  Vizcaya,  hoisted  out  what  boats 
I  had  and  sent  them  to  the  rescue  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
I  also  directed  the  torpedo  boat  Ericsson  and  the  con 
verted  yacht  Hist  to  join  in  the  work.  The  danger  to 
our  men  and  officers  from  exploding  magazines  was 
imminent,  but  they  faced  it  with  a  courage  and  cool 
ness  that  were  habitual  to  them. 

It  was  only  a  short  time  before  the  boat  loads  of 
dead  and  wounded  began  to  arrive  alongside,  and  then 
the  ghastly,  horrible  results  of  our  Sunday  morning's 
work  were  apparent.  I  had  made  every  possible  prep 
aration  for  the  comfort  of  the  wounded,  and  as  the  poor 
chaps  were  tenderly  lifted  over  the  side  and  handled  by 
the  men  who,  half  an  hour  before,  were  anxious  to  kill 

450 


Farewell  to  the  Vizcaya 

them  all,  I  could  but  be  struck  with  this  splendid  phase 
of  war.  The  beautiful  white  quarter-deck  of  the  Iowa 
was  soon  stained  with  the  blood  dripping  from  the  wet 
clothing  of  the  wounded,  and  she  looked  as  if  she  had 
been  used  as  a  slaughter  pen. 

Presently  a  boat  came  alongside  bearing  Captain 
Eulate,  commander  of  the  Vizcaya.  That  was  a  sight 
I  shall  never  forget  as  long  as  I  live.  In  the  stern, 
supported  by  one  of  our  naval  cadets,  sat  the  captain, 
covered  with  blood  from  three  wounds,  with  a  blood 
stained  handkerchief  about  his  bare  head..  Around 
him  sat  or  lay  a  dozen  or  more  wounded  men.  In  the 
bottom  of  the  boat,  which  was  leaking,  was  a  foot  or  so 
of  blood-stained  water  and  the  body  of  a  dead  Spanish 
sailor  which  rolled  from  side  to  side  as  the  water 
swashed  about.  The  captain  was  tenderly  placed  in  a 
chair  and  then  hoisted  to  the  deck,  where  he  was  re 
ceived  with  the  honours  due  his  rank.  As  the  chair 
was  placed  on  the  quarter-deck  he  slowly  raised  himself 
to  his  feet,  unbuckled  his  sword  belt,  kissed  the  hilt  of 
his  sword,  and,  bowing  low,  gracefully  presented  it  to 
me  as  a  token  of  surrender.  I  never  felt  so  sorry  for  a 
man  in  all  my  life.  Of  course  I  declined  to  receive  the 
sword,  or  rather  I  instantly  handed  it  back  to  Captain 
Eulate,  but  accepted  the  surrender  of  his  officers  and 
men  in  the  name  of  Admiral  Sampson,  our  commander 
in  chief.  My  men  were  all  crowded  aft  about  the  deck 
and  superstructure,  and  when  I  declined  the  sword  the 
brave  hearts  under  the  blue  shirts  appreciated  my  feel 
ings  and  they  cheered  until  I  felt  ashamed  of  myself. 

As  I  supported  the  captain  toward  my  cabin,  he 
stopped  for  a  moment  just  as  we  reached  the  hatch, 


A  Sailor's  Log 

and  drawing  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  with  his  right 
arm  extended  above  his  head,  exclaimed,  "  Adios,  Viz- 
caya!  "  Just  as  the  words  passed  his  lips  the  forward 
magazine  of  his  late  command,  as  if  arranged  for  the 
purpose,  exploded  with  magnificent  effect.  Captain 
Eulate,  a  sensitive,  passionate  man,  conducted  himself 
in  a  way  to  elicit  the  admiration  of  all  who  saw  him. 
After  he  had  been  attended  to  by  the  surgeons  he  occu 
pied  a  part  of  my  cabin,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  aid 
me  in  making  his  officers  and  men  comfortable. 

The  work  of  rescue  was  progressing  rapidly;  nearly 
three  hundred  prisoners — officers  and  men — had  been 
received  on  board  when  the  U.  S.  S.  Resolute,  Com 
mander  Eaton  commanding,  hove  in  sight,  blowing  her 
steam  whistle,  and  with  this  signal  at  her  yardarm, 
"  Enemy's  battle  ship  to  the  eastward."  At  first  I 
thought  that  she  had  dressed  ship  in  honour  of  our 
victory,  and  that  the  combination  of  signal  flags  was 
an  accident,  but  as  she  drew  nearer  I  knew  this 
was  not  the  case.  A  signal  man  was  signalling  that  a 
Spanish  battle  ship  was  off  Siboney,  and  Captain  Eaton 
soon  confirmed  the  news  through  a  megaphone  larger 
than  any  I  had  ever  before  seen.  In  reply  to  my  in 
quiries,  I  was  informed  that  the  Resolute  had  been 
close  enough  to  the  newcomer  to  distinguish  her 
colours,  and  that  she  was  undoubtedly  a  Spanish  bat 
tle  ship,  and  probably  at  that  moment  was  engaged  in 
destroying  our  transport  fleet  at  Siboney.  After  giv 
ing  me  this  information,  Captain  Eaton  continued  his 
course  to  the  westward  in  search  of  the  admiral,  who 
was  out  of  sight,  in  chase  of  the  Colon. 

I  felt  absolutely  confident  that  there  was  no  Spanish 
452 


An  Alarm 

battle  ship  anywhere  to  the  eastward  short  of  the  coast 
of  Spain,  but  after  a  while  I  saw  the  Harvard,  Captain 
Charles  Cotton  commanding,  coming  my  way  at  top 
speed  with  a  tremendous  bone  in  her  mouth  and  fol 
lowed  by  a  dozen  or  more  army  transports,  all  making 
the  best  speed  they  were  capable  of.  Captain  Cotton 
flew  the  signal,  "  Enemy's  battle  ship  in  sight  to  the 
eastward."  The  Harvard  slowed  and  stopped  quite 
close  to  me,  while  I  hoisted  in  my  boats  and  made  ready 
to  engage  the  new  enemy.  I  asked  Captain  Cotton, 
who  had  assured  me  that  he  had  been  near  enough  to 
the  stranger  to  make  her  out  beyond  doubt  as  a  Spanish 
battle  ship,  why  Captain  Taylor  in  the  Indiana  was  not 
knocking  the  roof  off  her.  I  could  see  the  Indiana's 
smokestacks  as  she  lay  at  her  station  off  Santiago, 
where  Sampson  had  sent  her  to  prevent  some  Spanish 
gun  vessels  from  doing  the  very  thing  this  new  bat 
tle  ship  was  supposed  to  be  engaged  in.  The  answer 
to  my  question  came  back  very  promptly  from  Cotton: 
"  Bob,  he  has  fooled  Taylor;  don't  let  him  fool  you." 
I  could  see  the  vessel  referred  to  well  out  to  sea,  but 
standing  in  toward  us,  and  I  at  once  shaped  a  course 
to  intercept  her.  My  ship  was  cleared  for  action,  the 
guns  all  loaded,  and  the  men  cheering  wildly  at  the 
prospect  of  having  a  Spanish  battle  ship  all  to  them 
selves;  but  the  three  hundred  Spanish  prisoners  were 
a  source  of  anxiety  to  me.  To  expose  them  to  the 
fire  of  their  own  people  would  be  barbarous,  and  to 
allow  them  to  mix  in  with  my  men  and  go  below  in 
my  ship  during  a  fight  would  be  tempting  Providence. 
I  decided  at  once  on  the  only  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 
I  went  to  Captain  Eulate,  explained  the  position  to 
so  453 


A  Sailor's  Log 

him  in  a  few  words,  and  placed  him,  his  officers,  and 
men  on  parole  not  to  commit  any  act  of  violence 
against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  Then  I 
put  all  his  people  where  they  would  be  reasonably  safe, 
and,  with  the  Harvard  and  a  score  of  transports  follow 
ing  me,  stood  rapidly  out  to  sink  the  approaching  ship. 
Most  of  the  troop  ships  had  stopped  near  me  for  pro 
tection,  but  some  of  them  continued,  I  believe,  as  far 
as  Jamaica,  ninety  miles  away.  The  stranger  was  now 
in  plain  sight  and  my  officers  and  best  signal  men  de 
clared  her  colours  to  be  Spanish.  I  gave  orders  to 
open  fire  at  five  thousand  yards,  and  was  rapidly  ap 
proaching  that  distance  when  she  made  signal,  "  I  am 
an  Austrian,"  and  a  few  moments  later  hoisted  her 
number.  She  proved  to  be  the  Austrian  armoured 
cruiser  Infanta  Maria  Teresa.  One  of  that  name  was 
a  wreck  on  the  beach  a  few  miles  away,  and  the  second 
would  have  gone  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  if  she  had 
delayed  her  signal  a  few  minutes  longer.  The  Spanish 
and  Austrian  flags  were  dangerously  alike  for  such 
manoeuvring  on  that  particular  day. 

A  number  of  dead  Spanish  sailors  had  been  brought 
on  board  the  Iowa  from  the  Vizcaya  while  we  were 
rescuing  her  crew.  They  had  either  been  taken  dead 
from  the  water  or  had  died  in  the  boats.  I  had  had 
them  placed  well  aft  on  the  quarter-deck  and  covered 
with  the  Spanish  flag.  The  time  had  now  come  to 
bury  them,  and  I  therefore  stopped  my  engines  and 
lowered  my  colours  to  half  mast,  and  my  motions  were 
followed  by  the  Harvard  and  the  troop  ships.  Then 
all  hands  were  called  to  bury  the  dead;  the  service  was 
read  by  their  own  padre  in  the  presence  of  their  own 

454 


Caring  for  Prisoners 

officers  and  men,  and  the  bodies  were  committed  to  the 
deep  while  my  marines  presented  arms  and  my  officers 
and  men  stood  uncovered  and  silent  as  if  we  were  bury 
ing  our  own  people.  I  doubt  if  a  more  impressive 
funeral  ever  took  place  from  the  deck  of  a  vessel  of  war, 
certainly  not  on  the  conclusion  of  a  great  naval  battle 
before  the  combatants  had  had  time  to  remove  the 
powder  stains. 

As  soon  as  the  prisoners  were  received  on  board 
they  were  given  all  the  coffee  they  could  drink  and 
all  the  hard  bread  and  corned  beef  they  could  eat. 
Then  they  were  scrubbed  and  fitted  out  with  clean 
new  uniforms,  and  it  was  hard  to  distinguish  them  from 
our  own  men.  They  were  a  fine,  muscular  lot  of  well- 
disciplined  people.  The  officers,  as  well  as  the  men, 
had  lost  everything  except  the  clothing  they  wore,  and 
this  in  many  cases  was  very  scant.  Indeed,  many  came 
on  board  entirely  naked,  having  removed  all  their 
clothing  before  attempting  to  swim  ashore  from  their 
burning  ships.  The  officers  of  the  Iowa,  from  the  cap 
tain  down,  gave  up  their  quarters  to  the  Spanish  offi 
cers  and  supplied  each  one  with  a  complete  suit  of 
clothing  and  as  much  champagne  as  they  could  be  in 
duced  to  swallow.  We  did  all  we  could  to  make  them 
forget  their  unfortunate  surroundings,  and  their  grati 
tude  was  what  we  expected  from  gentlemen  of  their 
profession. 

When  I  had  satisfied  myself  that  the  Resolute  and 
Harvard  had  not  seen  a  real  Spanish  battle  ship,  I 
directed  the  course  of  the  Iowa  to  the  eastward  and 
resumed  my  station  off  Santiago,  where  I  found  the 
Indiana  and  Gloucester  on  guard.  The  latter  was 

455 


A  Sailor's  Log 

about  to  transfer  Admiral  Cervera  and  some  of  his 
officers  to  the  Indiana,  but,  as  I  knew  that  Captain 
Taylor  had  little  if  any  spare  room  in  his  cabin,  and  I 
had  plenty,  I  offered  to  take  them  on  board  the  Iowa, 
which  offer  was  at  once  accepted,  and  Captain  Wain- 
wright,  who  had  that  day  made  a  name  for  himself 
worthy  the  stock  from  which  he  comes,  brought  them 
alongside  in  his  boat.  The  full  marine  guard  was  drawn 
up  on  the  quarter-deck  while  the  Spanish  prisoners 
were  lined  up  on  the  opposite  side,  and  the  crew  of 
the  Iowa,  just  as  they  came  out  of  the  fight,  were 
massed  on  the  superstructure  and  after-turrets.  I  and 
my  officers  stood  near  the  gangway.  As  the  brave 
old  admiral  came  over  the  side  scantily  clad,  without 
shirt  or  hat,  yet  an  admiral  every  inch  of  him,  the 
officers  saluted,  the  marines  presented  arms,  and  the 
buglers  sounded  the  salute  for  an  officer  of  his  rank. 
As  he  bowed  and  extended  his  hand  to  me,  my  men 
burst  into  cheers.  For  an  instant  it  seemed  to  me 
that  Admiral  Cervera  misunderstood  the  demonstra 
tion;  but  then  he  realized  its  meaning,  that  it  was  the 
tribute  of  brave  men  for  a  brave  and  gallant  foe,  and 
he  stood  bowing  his  acknowledgment  while  the  men 
behind  the  guns  made  him  understand  what  they 
thought  of  him. 

The  meeting  between  the  late  commander  in  chief, 
who  had  with  him  his  son,  acting  as  his  flag  lieuten 
ant,  and  the  commanding  officers  of  the  torpedo  boats, 
and  Captain  Eulate  and  his  men,  was  touching  and 
pathetic.  After  I  had  made  him  as  comfortable  as 
possible,  he  asked  to  see  the  wounded  Spanish  sailors 
who  were  crowded  into  our  sick-bay.  He  had  a  word 

456 


Admiral  Cervera's  reception  on  board  the  Iowa. 


A  Glorious  Fourth 

of  comfort  and  encouragement  for  each  of  them  and 
they  appreciated  his  visit.  I  gave  him  my  cabin, 
where  he  lived  until  after  sundown  on  the  following 
day,  when  I  transferred  him  to  the  St.  Louis  for 
passage  North  in  company  with  the  other  captured 
Spanish  officers.  During  the  evening  of  the  3d  of 
July  he  sat  on  deck  under  a  small  awning  I  had  ar 
ranged  for  him,  smoking  and  receiving  the  various 
officers  who  called  to  pay  their  respects.  While  he 
was  somewhat  depressed  over  the  disaster  that  had  be 
fallen  his  fleet  and  his  country,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
he  had  anticipated  it  and  bore  himself  with  great  dig 
nity  and  courtesy.  His  conversation  was  most  inter 
esting,  and  I  listened  to  him  with  great  interest 
until  he  retired  about  eleven  o'clock. 

By  that  time  Admiral  Sampson  had  returned  from 
the  wreck  of  the  Colon  and  we  all  knew  of  the  complete 
annihilation  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  There  was  a  death 
like  silence  over  our  fleet  as  the  tired  officers  and  men 
sought  such  rest  as  they  could  obtain.  For  me  there 
was  no  rest,  and  I  spent  the  night  walking  the  deck, 
keeping  a  keen  watch  on  the  prisoners  and  occasionally 
visiting  the  wounded  officers  in  my  cabin  to  do  what  I 
could  to  add  to  their  comfort.  I  felt  that  we  had  done 
a  good,  clean  piece  of  work  during  the  day,  and  was 
glad  for  the  people  at  home  who  would  be  much  re 
lieved  by  our  victory. 

On  July  4th  we  dressed  ship,  fired  salutes,  and  con 
ducted  ourselves  generally  in  a  way  befitting  the  day. 
When  we  had  transferred  our  prisoners,  we  took  our 
former  blockading  stations  and  fell  again  into  our 
watchful  routine.  Toward  midnight  the  Massachu- 

457 


A  Sailor's  Log 

setts,  on  search-light  duty,  discovered  the  Reina  Mer 
cedes,  a  Spanish  cruiser  of  thirty-five  hundred  tons, 
coming  out  of  the  harbour.  The  Massachusetts  opened 
on  her  at  once  and  the  Texas  joined  in  the  fight.  The 
rest  of  us  held  our  fire  and  watched  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  engagements  ever  fought.  The  beams  of  the 
search  lights  showed  up  the  Spaniard  until  she  looked 
like  a  ship  in  a  picture,  and  we  could  see  the  shells 
tearing  through  her  and  exploding  all  about  her.  Grad 
ually  she  began  to  turn,  then  listed  over  to  one  side, 
and  soon  joined  the  Merrimac  on  the  bottom  and 
only  a  few  hundred  yards  away  from  her.  The  bat 
teries  in  the  meantime  opened  up  and  for  half  an  hour 
mortar  shells  and  six-inch  projectiles  whizzed  and 
roared  over  our  heads.  The  Indiana  received  a  mortar 
shell  through  her  quarter-deck,  and  was  the  only  ship 
struck.  At  midnight  everything  was  quiet.  The  sea 
power  of  Spain  had  been  destroyed  in  a  manner  which 
must  bring  great  credit  to  the  navy  of  the  United 
States,  and  give  us  a  standing  as  a  naval  power  which 
we  had  never  before  enjoyed.  And,  beyond  this,  the 
war  must  speedily  end. 

During  the  evening  of  July  4th  I  wrote  and  sub 
mitted  to  Admiral  Sampson  my  report  of  the  engage 
ment  of  July  3d.  When  I  had  about  concluded  it  and 
was  thinking  of  something  good  enough  to  say  of  the 
brave  men  who  had  fought  under  my  command,  my 
pen,  without  conscious  effort  on  my  part,  wrote  the 
following  words:  "  I  can  not  express  my  admiration 
for  my  magnificent  crew.  So  long  as  the  enemy 
showed  his  flag  they  fought  like  American  seamen, 
but  when  the  flag  came  down  they  were  as  gentle 

458 


The  End  of  War 

and  tender  as  American  women."  I  don't  know 
whether  it  was  the  memory  of  the  gentle  American 
women,  or  the  presence  about  me  of  the  gallant  Ameri 
can  seamen  that  influenced  my  pen,  but  it  certainly 
wrote  exactly  what  I  felt. 

The  blockade  of  Santiago  was  strictly  maintained 
until  the  Spanish  army  surrendered,  when  we  retired 
to  Guantanamo,  and  a  squadron  of  twelve  ships,  the 
Iowa  one  of  them,  was  made  ready  to  sail  for  the  coast 
of  Spain  and  call  the  bluff  of  Admiral  Camara  in  passing 
his  fleet  through  the  Suez  Canal  ostensibly  on  his  way 
to  Manila  to  annoy  Admiral  Dewey.  For  several  days 
we  lay  with  steam  up  and  everything  ready  to  get 
under  way  on  the  receipt  of  telegraphic  orders,  but  the 
orders  never  came.  Spain  was  vanquished,  Sampson 
at  Santiago  had  completed  the  work  so  brilliantly 
begun  by  Dewey  at  Manila,  and  she  sued  for  peace. 
When  the  protocol  had  been  signed  we  received  orders 
to  proceed  to  New  York. 


459 


CHAPTER  XL 

CONCLUSION 

WITH  men  cheering  and  the  bands  playing  "  Home 
ward  bound,"  we  sailed  from  the  island  of  Cuba,  having 
wrested  it  from  the  nation  that  discovered  it  four  hun 
dred  years  before. 

We  reached  New  York  August  2Oth,  and  there 
received  a  welcome  which  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
any  one  who  witnessed  it.  The  squadron,  fresh  iron} 
the  enemy's  coast  and  just  as  they  had  fought,  steamed 
up  the  beautiful  harbour,  fired  a  salute  of  twenty-one 
guns  off  the  tomb  of  General  Grant,  and  returned  to 
the  anchorage  at  Tompkinsville.  The  hearts  of  officers 
and  men  were  full  to  overflowing  because  of  the  kindly, 
patriotic  welcome  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  The 
hardships  we  had  endured  were  forgotten  in  the  satis 
faction  we  felt  in  having  pleased  our  employers.  There 
had  been  no  time  to  advertise  our  coming  or  prepare 
for  us  a  formal  welcome;  nevertheless  New  York  city 
was  one  blaze  of  American  flags,  and  every  vessel  that 
could  steam  or  sail  was  crowded  to  suffocation  with 
men  and  women  and  children  from  all  parts  of  the 
republic  to  welcome  our  home-coming.  It  was  a  spon 
taneous  outburst  of  patriotism  and  affection  the  like 
of  which  this  country  had  never  before  seen. 

460 


Presentation  of  a  Sword 

Late  in  October  the  Iowa  was  ordered  to  be  ready 
to  sail  for  San  Francisco  and  I  was  detached  from  her. 
I  left  her  with  great  regret,  much  touched  by  the 
kindly  feeling  of  her  officers  and  crew. 

From  the  day  of  my  return  I  was  generously 
treated  by  the  people  of  all  sections  of  the  country. 
They  showered  invitations  upon  me  for  banquets  and 
entertainments  of  all  kinds.  I  could  not  accept  many 
of  them,  but  was,  and  am  still,  heartily  grateful  for  the 
feeling  that  prompted  them. 

Some  time  after  I  left  the  Iowa  I  received  a  beauti 
ful  sword,  which  I  value  above  all  my  earthly  posses 
sions,  and  the  following  letter: 

14  U.  S.  S.  IOWA,  FIRST  RATE, 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA,  February  14,  i8gg. 

"  Captain  ROBLEY  D.   EVANS,   U.   S.   N.,   Washing 
ton,  D.  C. 

"  SIR:  The  members  of  this  ship's  company,  who 
had  the  high  honour  of  serving  you  from  San  Juan  to 
Santiago,  beg  leave  to  present  this  sword  as  a  token  of 
our  affection  and  reverence. 

"  It  had  been  our  intention  to  make  this  presenta 
tion  when  you  relinquished  command,  but  owing  to 
the  disintegration  of  the  crew  following  our  arrival  at 
New  York  in  August  last,  and  our  hurried  departure, 
it  was  not  done.  Coming  at  this  late  day,  it  will  show 
you,  sir,  that  this  action  is  not  from  momentary  im 
pulse,  but  that  the  affection  and  respect  of  this  crew 
for  you  is  deep-rooted  and  lasting,  and  that  the  men  of 
the  battle  ship  Iowa  will  ever  cherish  the  memory  of 
their  beloved  commander. 

461 


A  Sailor's  Log 

"  And  with  this  sword  we  send  our  wishes  for  your 
health  and  happiness  always.  It  is  an  assurance  from 
us  that  you  are  more  than  a  hero  to  a  nation — you  are 
a  hero  to  your  men. 

"  Very  respectfully, 
"  F.  ZULCH,  " 
"A.  E.  MOORE, 
"J.  COLLINS,  Chief  M.  A.  A., 

"  E.    McCoRMACK, 

"  H.  ENELS  HOLT, 

"Committee" 

My  yarn  of  forty  years  of  naval  life  is  spun.  I  think 
I  can  not  close  it  more  appropriately  than  b^  repeating 
a  remark  made  to  me  in  Cincinnati.  I  was  attending  a 
recepftion  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  -where  many 
people  had  assembled  to  greet  me.  A  white-haired  old 
gentleman  stopped  in  front  of  me  and,  taking  my  hand, 
said,  "  Captain,  I  want  to  know  how  it  feels  when  you 
are  sure  that  there  are  seventy  millions  of  people  each  of 
whom  would  like  to  look  into  your  eyes  and  say,  '  God 
bless  you!'  I  could  have  told  the  kindly  old  man 
that  it  made  me  feel  that  fighting  by  day  and  watching 
by  night,  that  danger  in  storm  and  suffering  in  tropic 
calm,  were  but  "  reasonable  service  "  to  such  a  country, 
and  such  fellow-countrymen  as  I  am  bound  to  by  every 
feeling  of  my  heart. 


462 


INDEX 


Accident,  a  fatal,  67. 

Active  service,  55. 

Africa,  a  cruise  to,  174. 

Atden,  James,  79. 

Allegiance,  the  question  of,  46. 

America,  the,  59. 

Ammen,  Captain,  109,  145. 

Amoy,  124. 

Andes,  a  trip  over  the,  299. 

Annapolis,  a  new  view  of,  155. 

Ape,  trouble  with  an,  120. 

Arctic  fruits,  347. 

Arctic  scenery,  319. 

Assault,  a  bloody,  89. 


Baltimore,  the  murdered  men  of  the, 

259- 

Battle,  a  desperate,  95.  , 
Battle-hatch,  fall  of 'a,  425. 
Bear,  a  drunken,  49. 
Bell,  Admiral,  115. 
Bering  Sea,  off  for,  313  ;  arrival  in, 

329- 

Boar  hunt,  a,  225. 
Boat-racing,  141,  151. 
Bounty-jumper,  a,  72. 
Boyle,  Sibyl,  187. 
Brothers  in  a  dilemma,  51. 
Brown,  George,  125. 
Buffalo,  among  the,  15. 
Bull-terrier,  a,  137. 
Bunce,  Admiral,  391. 


Cadet  at  Annapolis,  a,  35. 
Callao,  301. 
Canton,  122. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  112. 
Cape  Town,  a  visit  to,  113. 
Cards  and  whisky,  139. 
Carnegie,  Andrew,  234. 
Cartagena,  160,  162. 
Case,  Admiral,  162. 
Cemetery,  a  desecrated,  179. 
Centennial,  the,  213. 
Cervera,  Admiral,  431  et  seq. 
Chile,  cruise  to,  243. 
Chilean  insolence,  265. 
Chilean  justice,  281. 
Christmas,  a  curious,  271. 
Civil  war  approaching,  39. 
Coal-shovel,  a  ride  on  a,  96. 
Cobra,  capturing  a,  147. 
Coins,  buying  rare,  129. 
Coloured  cadet,  the  first,  155. 
Command,  the  first,  59. 
Constitution,  on  the,  43. 
Convalescent,  experiences  of  a,  100, 
Converse,  Commander,  423. 
Copenhagen,  371. 
Coquitlan,  seizure  of  the,  328. 
Cowlson,  Captain,  359. 
Gushing,  117. 
Curtis,  General,  95. 


Daring,  the,  151. 
Date  fish,  193. 


463 


A  Sailor's  Log 


Dayton,  Captain,  419. 
Death,  indifference  to,  135. 
De  la  Fosse,  Colonel,  202. 
Digger  Indian,  a  shot  at  a,  29. 
Discipline,  under,  53. 
Divided  authority,  57. 
Divided  family,  a,  47. 
Doctors,  defying  the,  101. 
Dorst,  Colonel,  415. 
Douglass,  Frederick,  241. 
Duel  to  the  death,  a,  91. 
Dupont's  fleet,  84. 

Eagan,   Mr.,   267,   273,    282,    290, 

302. 

Earthquake  in  California,  307. 
Emperor,  the  German,  382  et  seq. 
Engagement,  154. 
English,  Captain  Earl,  145,  174. 
English  officers,  relations  with,  137. 
Execution,  a  Japanese,  133. 
Errazuriz,  the,  253. 
Evans,  A.  H.,  10. 

Farquhar,  Lieutenant-Commander, 

100. 

Feeding  the  poor,  197. 

Ferry,  Governor,  311. 

"  Fighting  Bob,"  too  much,  309. 

Fight  on  shore,  a,  66. 

Fire,  under,  81. 

Fireworks,  American,  379. 

First  gun  of  the  war,  412. 

Fishing,  big,  325. 

Flag,  power  of  the,  289. 

Flowers,  arctic,  330. 

Flying  Squadron,  the,  63, 423  ;  Eng 
lish,  65. 

Fort  Bridger,  20. 

Fort  Fisher,  first  campaign,  74 ; 
capture  of,  98. 

Freemantle,  Captain,  220. 


Fruits,  arctic,  347. 
Funeral  at  sea,  a,  68. 

Gale,  a  terrific,  399. 
Gambling  on  a  system,  121. 
Game,  big,  26. 
Ghost  aloft,  a,  209. 
Gibraltar,  159. 
Goat,  milking  a,  169. 
Golden  pheasants,  139. 
Goldsborough,  Louis  M.,  154.      ! 
Guantanamo  seized,  437. 
Guest,  John,  letter  from,  214. 
Gun,  a  big,  223. 

Havana,  69,  410. 

Hazing  at  Annapolis,  37. 

Healey,  Captain  and  Mrs.,  358. 

Henrietta,  capture  of  the,  352. 

High  latitudes,  343. 

Hill,  F.  K.,  442. 

Hobson,  Richmond,  P.,  433. 

Hong-Kong,  117. 

Hooper,  Captain,  335,  346. 

Hotham,  Admiral,  291,  312 ;  letter 

from,  355. 
Hunting  in  Morocco,  165. 

Iluiluik,  324. 

Indiana,  ordered  to  the,  393. 
Indians,  a  fight  with,  19. 
Iowa,  ordered  to  the,  407. 

Jackal  shot,  227. 

Jane  Gray,  seizure  of  the,  339. 

Japan,  stormy  days  in,  125. 

Japanese  honesty,  131. 

Jeffrard,  70. 

Journalism,  sensational,  273. 

Journey,  a  difficult,  105. 

Jowler  stolen,  153. 


464 


Index 


Kelly,  J.  D.  J.,  187. 
Kiel  celebration,  the,  374. 
Kimball,  Commander,  424. 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  verses  by,  402. 
Kodiak  Island,  at,  324. 

Lamb,  Colonel,  89. 

Lamberton,  Captain,  390. 

Lambton,  Hedwith,  219. 

Landes,  Colonel,  311. 

Lardner,  James,  61. 

Le  Roy,  Admiral,  211. 

Liberia,  181. 

Lighthouse  service,  231 ;  Secretary 

of  the  Board,  362. 
Little  Breeches,  21. 
Long,  John  D.,  406. 
Long  range,  fighting  at,  430. 
Longstreet,  Dr.,  95. 
Luce,  Stephen  B.,  44. 
Lydia,  seizure  of  the,  340. 

McGregor,  158. 

McLean,  Major,  190. 

Mackenzie,    Lieutenant-Command- 

er,  117,  414. 
Maine,  building  the,  240 ;  disaster, 

405- 

Malta,  201. 
Manila,  138. 
Market,  going  to,  5. 
Married,  155. 
Marseilles,  at,  191. 
Mathews,  E.  O.,  56. 
Meade,  Admiral,  364. 
Merrimac,  sinking  the,  433. 
Mediterranean,  in  the,  190. 
Metallurgy,  229. 
Milligan,  103. 
Monaco,  197 

Mongoose  and  cobra,  150. 
Montevideo,  249. 


Mormon  country,  in  the,  25. 

Mormon  women,  27. 

Mountain  chief,  seizure  of  the,  340. 

Nagasaki,  130. 

Napier  of  Magdala,  Lord,  220. 
Naples,  a  storm  at,  195. 
Narrow  escape,  a,  41. 
Naturalist,  a  Government,  342. 
Nest  of  pirates,  a,  341. 
Netley  Abbey,  370. 
New  York,  ordered  to  the,  364. 
New  York,  return  to,  153. 
Nicholson,  Captain,  58. 
Nigger  prince,  a,  371. 
Norfolk  hospital,  102. 
Nurse,  a  Southern,  3. 

Octopus,  a  lively,  207. 
Oneida,  sinking  of  the,  143. 
Opium-smoking,  123. 
Orient,  in  the,  107. 
Oriental  diversions,  146. 
Orotava,  visit  to,  177. 
Over-training,  mental,  217. 

Parker,  James,  extract  from  his  re 
port,  108. 

Parr,  Captain,  345,  356. 
Pasha,  overawing  a,  203. 
Peasantry,  Grecian,  194. 
Philadelphia,  a  relic  of  the,  2O2, 
Philippines,  the,  136. 
Pirates,  looking  for,  59;  Chinese,  117. 
Piscataqua,  109. 
Pitkin,  Dr.  H.  S.,  128. 
Plains,  camping  on  the,  17. 
Porter,  Admiral,  74. 
Port  Etches,  326. 
Port-of-Spain,  fire  in,  365. 
Port  Townsend,  at,  309. 
Powder-boat,  the,  77. 


465 


A  Sailor's 


Log 


Powhatan,  on  the,  60. 
Prairie  storm,  33. 
Premonitions,  86. 
Preston,  Lieutenant,  87. 
Prince  unawares,  a,  381. 
Prisoners,  caring  for,  455. 
Privateers,  cruising  for,  63. 
Prize,  first,  412. 
Promotion,  108,  144. 

Quicksand,  in  a,  140. 

Race,  a  cutter,  401. 
Ramsay,  F.  M.,  154. 
Refugees,  embarrassment  of,  293. 
Rio  Harbour,  in,  ill. 
Roberts,  President,  181. 
Rodgers,  C.  R.  P.,  35. 
Rodgers,  George,  35. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  403. 
Rouckendorf,  William,  60. 
Rowan,  Admiral,  109. 

Sailors,  troublesome,  65. 

Saint  George,  island  of,  337. 

Saint  Helena,  152. 

Saint  Paul  Island,  332. 

Salt  Lake  Valley,  28. 

Sampson,   William  T.,  174,  407  ft 

seq. 

Sands,  Hoban,  90. 
San  Francisco,  at,  307. 
San  Juan,  417  ;  bombardment  at, 

419. 

Santiago  de  Cuba,  the,  100. 
Santiago,    sacking   of,   283 ;    naval 

battle  of,  443  et  seq. 
Saratoga,  the,  215. 
Schenck,  Commodore,  71. 
Schenck,  Paymaster,  103. 
Schley,  Winfield  S.,  259,  427  et  seq. 
Sealers,   among  the,    315  et    seq.  ; 


captures  of,   339,   352,   353 ;   by 

Russians,  355. 
Seal  question,  the,  362,  363. 
Seals,  home  of  the,  332  ;  habits  of, 

359- 

Sea-power,  English,  161. 
Search  lights,  using  the,  441. 
Shafter,  William  R.,  438. 
Shark,  capturing  a,  183. 
Shells,  Spanish,  420. 
Shenandoah,  on  board  the,  158. 
Shot,  a  quick,  115. 
Sierra  Leone,  186. 
Signalling,  long-distance,  215. 
Singapore,  115. 
Slavery,  days  of,  7. 
Smythe's  Channel,  255. 
Snowstorm,  an  arctic,  361. 
Sobra  Sada,  193. 
Spaniards,  a  race  with,  199. 
Sport  in  China,  139. 
Steel  inspector,  237. 
Steel  ships,  230. 
Straits  of  Magellan,  253. 
Suffering,  days  of,  103. 
Sunday  amusements  in  Spain,  164. 
Supply  ship  seized,  335. 
Sword,  presentation  of  a,  461. 

Target  practice,  354,  360. 
Taylor,  Harry  C.,  154. 
Taylor,  Miss  Charlotte,  154. 
Thompson,  John  W.,  10. 
Topsail  yard,  on  a,  50. 
Torpedo  boats,  Chilean,  297. 
Torpedo  drill,  391. 
Torpedoes,  old-fashioned,  163. 
Troops  arrive  at  Annapolis,  42. 
Tryon,  George,  219. 
Tunis,  200. 

Turner,  J.  Milton,  180. 
Turtles,  303. 


466 


Index 


Unalaska,  319  et  seq. 

Valparaiso,  257. 
Vial,  Captain,  warned,  287. 
Victory,  an  American,  143. 
Villefranche,  224. 

Wachusett,  the,  160. 
Ware,  Mount,  358. 
War  talk,  277. 
War  with  Spain,  404  el  seq. 
Washakie,  22. 


Wasmouth,  92. 
Wells,  Clarke  H.,  158. 
Whistles,  23. 
Whitney,  W.  C.,  234. 
Winifred,  seizure  of  the,  338. 
Wood,  Captain  R.  N.,  350. 
Wood,  Maxwell,  215. 
Wounded,  care  of  the,  97. 
Wounds,  helpless  from,  93. 

Yorktown,  the,  243. 
Young,  Brigham,  31. 


THE   END 


467 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


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DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


Nt1  335 

Mr  2?  '40 

ras  w  '« 

DEC  2    W 

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2  -DEC 


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LIBRARY,  BRANCH  OF  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE,  DAVIS 
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